Positions 08 Nov 2019

Passenger Name Record - widening the scope to rail?

The EU and the railway sector have been working for many years on facilitating cross-border rail transport by focusing on improving rail interoperability, investing resources into rail infrastructure and creating a common market for rail services. Potential security measures which impact seamless cross-border rail travel must be of demonstrated added-value and be proportionate to the level of security gains desired. In the context of the recent discussions in the Council on the possibility of widening the EU PNR framework to rail, CER is against a requirement to collect passenger name records and perform conformity checks between tickets and identity cards in the rail sector. This would only add another level of complexity for cross-border rail journeys, making trains more expensive without improving security in stations and on board trains. Therefore, it would represent a major blow to the ambition of the EU and railway companies to shift more passengers away from road and air to rail. Download our position paper below to read more.