Govt submits Passenger Package proposal to parliament

The government on Thursday submitted a Union communication to Parliament concerning the European Commission’s proposals for a Passenger Package, said the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Transport and Communications in a joint press release.

The Commission presented the Passenger Package on 13 May 2026. The package includes proposals on rail ticketing, passenger rights and multimodal bookings.

Its aim is to make it easier to plan and book long-distance and cross-border rail journeys, particularly where journeys involve several transport operators. The proposals would also strengthen passenger rights.

The government views the objectives of the Passenger Package positively. The proposals could make travel easier, improve passenger rights and promote a more level playing field among service providers. At the same time, the government considers it important that the regulation remains proportionate and does not impose an unreasonable administrative burden on businesses or public authorities.

As regards the proposals on rail ticketing and passenger rights, the government believes that the impacts of the obligations relating to single tickets, particularly on regional and local rail services, should be assessed further during negotiations on the package.

It is important to ensure that the necessary national exemptions can continue to apply to local rail services, said the government.

The government considers it appropriate that railway undertakings with significant market power should be subject to more extensive obligations than other operators to provide access to their ticketing channels.

The government supports the objectives of the proposed regulation on multimodal booking services. It is appropriate that small and medium-sized service providers, which make up most Finnish providers, would remain outside the scope of the proposed obligations.

However, the scope and definitions of the proposal should be clarified during the negotiations. It is also important to ensure that the obligations imposed by the regulation are necessary, proportionate and fair in relation to the benefits sought.

Under the proposal, railway undertakings would have to make their tickets available for sale in a way that allows them to be combined with products from different railway operators into a single ticket.

In addition, railway undertakings with significant market power would have to open their ticketing channels to other operators.

The proposed regulation on passenger rights aims to ensure a high and consistent level of passenger protection. Under the proposal, passengers would more often benefit from passenger rights protection, even where a journey includes services operated by several railway undertakings.

The regulation would define the rights associated with a single ticket, including the right to reimbursement, rerouting, compensation and assistance in the event of disruptions.

The Union communication will next be debated in Parliament. The European Commission has presented the Passenger Package to the Council working party, and negotiations will begin in July.

At EU level, the Member States and the European Parliament will formulate their positions on the Commission’s proposals.