Thread by @jonworth

Want a cheap train from Brussels to Paris?

It sure ain't IZY!

And you better not speak German, Italian or Spanish (seriously)

Do read on in the #EUYearOfRail thread 🧵

There's a low-ish cost train service between Brussels and Paris called Thalys IZY - its own website is here 👇
izy.com/en

Services are reduced post-COVID, but it still runs...

But how do you book it?

Here's the train I want on the IZY site ✅

But presuming you might - naively - assume it's run by Thalys, you might think its trains were on the Thalys website

❌ But no, you'd be wrong - they don't show there 👇
booking.thalys.com

If you're starting in Belgium you might think SNCB could sell you a ticket for it... But no @SNCB_Int doesn't have it either ❌ 👇
b-europe.com

International rail portals @thetrainline @OmioGlobal don't have it either... ❌ 👇
omio.com
thetrainline.com

But what about French railways ticket portal @ouisncf?

That's where it gets **REALLY WEIRD**

OUI offers you these language/country options

Search using any of the 🇧🇪 options, 🇨🇭 (French, English) options, 🇫🇷, 🇱🇺, 🇬🇧 and 🇪🇺 and...

✅ the Thalys IZY train is shown

Search using the 🇪🇸, 🇮🇹 or 🇩🇪 options...

❌ the Thalys IZY is NOT shown

Weirdest of all is the 🇨🇭 German version that tells you the cheapest price is €49 for the day (the Thalys IZY train) but then gives you an error when you try to get it! 🤪

And if you click 🇷🇺 or rest of the world... you get sent to the Rail Europe portal instead, which does not find IZY trains at all ❌ 👇
raileurope.com

Seriously @OUIsncf what the hell is going on here?

Restricting sales of low cost trains based on the language someone speaks? @beuc @moniquegoyens @ufcquechoisir @Test_Achats might have something to say about that!

@Djebbari_JB @GeorgesGilkinet might have some views on this too

Crux here remains this: if we are to make travel by train, Europe-wide, as attractive as possible - ALL timetables, tickets and live running data for ALL trains, regardless of operator - need to be made available to third parties

Without that passengers can't get an overview!

Might also be of interest to @Transport_EU who are supposed to be making the European rail market work, and @CER_Railways who are supposed to believe in transparency of ticketing from their members.

/ends