4/26
CIT/UIC Passenger Claims Conference 2026 in Luxembourg: multimodality in focus
The traditional CIT/UIC Passenger Claims Conference took place on 30 September in Luxembourg, kindly supported by CFL. More than 80 participants from across Europe met to discuss this year’s central topic: multimodal passenger transport, with a focus on the evolving legal and technical framework, the EU Passenger Package and practical questions arising when rail is combined with other modes.
Morning session: multimodal transport in law and practice
The conference was opened by Isabelle Saintilan (Eurostar), with welcome addresses from Sophie Lacour (CFL, Director of Passenger Activities), Maria Sack (CIT President), Erik Evtimov (CIT Secretary-General) and Bertrand Minary (UIC Passenger and Freight Director).
Oliver Hirschfeld (DB) opened the thematic programme with the legal framework for international multimodal journeys and the interaction between the different passenger rights regimes. Nina Scherf (CIT) then presented current EU initiatives, including the proposed Regulation on passenger rights in the context of multimodal journeys and the Passenger Package, with particular attention to the proposed rules on rail single tickets.
Practical examples showed how multimodal products already work today. Thomas Schönfisch (SBB) presented Swiss AirRail and the cooperation with Swiss International Air Lines, Pinelopi Bournaki and and Katerina Kalaitzi (Hellenic Train) shared experience with multimodal passenger transport in Greece, and Yannis Yabanis (Attica Group) presented practical experience with maritime and rail journeys.
The morning session concluded with the technical framework. Jan Vávra (CIT) presented the EU framework for multimodal passenger information, booking and ticketing, including MMTIS and the new TEL TSI. Fabrice Setta and David Sarfatti (UIC) complemented this with UIC’s technical work on multimodal ticketing and passenger information.
Afternoon workshop: passenger claims in practice
As in previous years, the afternoon began with an interactive Mentimeter session, followed by a workshop based on four practical passenger claims. Two rail cases focused on the CIT Agreement on claims handling (AIV), including the roles of the issuing undertaking and the carrier responsible for assistance, as well as the allocation and accounting of certain costs between railway undertakings.
Two further cases focused specifically on multimodal journeys – one combining ferry and rail, and the other air and rail. They showed how claims handling becomes more complex when several transport contracts and different passenger-rights regimes are involved, and highlighted the importance of identifying the relevant contract, the responsible carrier and the rules applicable to each part of the journey.
Conclusions and next steps
The conference once again confirmed the value of direct, face-to-face exchange between railway undertakings, other transport operators and sector organisations. The combination of legal, technical and practical perspectives provided a broad picture of the challenges arising in multimodal passenger transport and created space for an open exchange of experience on how these challenges are dealt with in practice.
CIT warmly thanks CFL for its support and hospitality, UIC for the close cooperation, and all speakers and participants for their valuable contributions and active engagement throughout the conference.
The next Passenger Claims Conference is planned for 20 October 2027; the location will be confirmed in due course.