Federal Railways (ÖBB) has presented plans to reform its ticket system after a watchdog criticised it as "hard to understand and not very consumer friendly".
ÖBB said today (Weds) it will start to reorganise the ticket order system immediately. The firm customers will notice the first changes next year. It added the plan was to finalise the reform in 2014.
These announcements come shortly after the Schienen-Control GmbH (SCG), an independent rail traffic regulator, turned its guns on ÖBB over the current ticketing system. SCG said there were too many exceptions, and criticised that customers searching for the cheapest connections online would not receive any automatic recommendation by the system.
SCG, which stressed that ÖBB increased most ticket rates last year, said the company’s ticketing system was "partly confusing" and "lacked overview". It claimed especially people who rarely take the train were likely to have serious difficulties in booking connections.
The body further called for an annual ticket valid for all public transport providers across Austria. ÖBB offers annual passes, but these tickets cannot be used to take trams and buses in Vienna, Graz and other cities.
ÖBB promised it would ensure customers using its online booking platform would be informed about the cheapest connections available. The debt-stricken firm also said it axed 1,500 ticket rates over the past few years to create less complex schedules.
The new ticket booking platform will be called "ticket4all", according to ÖBB.
ÖBB chief Christian Kern warned recently the "last chance" to get the company back on track was "now".
Asked whether ÖBB would be owned by German national railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) in 10 years time in what would be a similar deal as Lufthansa’s takeover of Austrian Airlines (AUA) in 2009, Kern said: "I wouldn’t say we either turn ÖBB into a role model company or it belonged to DB. But now is definitely the time for the final chance."
The businessman, who took the hot seat earlier this year, appealed to ÖBB’s 42,000 employees to be "more flexible" as far as taking on jobs somewhere else within the firm was regarded.
Kern also revealed plans to reduce the number of managers within ÖBB by 100 during the coming years.
The former Verbund board member is the fourth ÖBB chief in six years. He receives 100,000 a year more than the annual 400,000 his predecessor Peter Klugar earned.
ÖBB suffered losses of 46 million Euros from January to July of this year. The company currently spends around 43 per cent of its overall expenses on staff incomes.
ÖBB said today (Weds) it will start to reorganise the ticket order system immediately. The firm customers will notice the first changes next year. It added the plan was to finalise the reform in 2014.
These announcements come shortly after the Schienen-Control GmbH (SCG), an independent rail traffic regulator, turned its guns on ÖBB over the current ticketing system. SCG said there were too many exceptions, and criticised that customers searching for the cheapest connections online would not receive any automatic recommendation by the system.
SCG, which stressed that ÖBB increased most ticket rates last year, said the company’s ticketing system was "partly confusing" and "lacked overview". It claimed especially people who rarely take the train were likely to have serious difficulties in booking connections.
The body further called for an annual ticket valid for all public transport providers across Austria. ÖBB offers annual passes, but these tickets cannot be used to take trams and buses in Vienna, Graz and other cities.
ÖBB promised it would ensure customers using its online booking platform would be informed about the cheapest connections available. The debt-stricken firm also said it axed 1,500 ticket rates over the past few years to create less complex schedules.
The new ticket booking platform will be called "ticket4all", according to ÖBB.
ÖBB chief Christian Kern warned recently the "last chance" to get the company back on track was "now".
Asked whether ÖBB would be owned by German national railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) in 10 years time in what would be a similar deal as Lufthansa’s takeover of Austrian Airlines (AUA) in 2009, Kern said: "I wouldn’t say we either turn ÖBB into a role model company or it belonged to DB. But now is definitely the time for the final chance."
The businessman, who took the hot seat earlier this year, appealed to ÖBB’s 42,000 employees to be "more flexible" as far as taking on jobs somewhere else within the firm was regarded.
Kern also revealed plans to reduce the number of managers within ÖBB by 100 during the coming years.
The former Verbund board member is the fourth ÖBB chief in six years. He receives 100,000 a year more than the annual 400,000 his predecessor Peter Klugar earned.
ÖBB suffered losses of 46 million Euros from January to July of this year. The company currently spends around 43 per cent of its overall expenses on staff incomes.
source: Austrian Independent
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