Behind every journey planner and online ticket shop lies timetable data: information about which trains run, when, and where they stop. For international journeys, this data comes from many different sources. UIC pools it all in the Multiple East-West Railways Integrated Timetable Storage (MERITS), a shared database that collects the timetables of around 40 data suppliers across Europe and makes them available to railways and ticket sellers.
On 5 and 6 November 2026, the UIC Timetable Expert Group (TTEG) met in Frankfurt am Main to discuss how to make this data faster, more complete, and easier to use, especially in the case of cross-border rail travel. Hosted by the German Railways (DB), this meeting brought together railway companies, ticket sellers, and IT companies both on site and online.
Opening the meeting, Vittorio Carta, Chair of the UIC Passenger Services Group (PSG), shared DB's goal of making rail a real alternative to flying across Europe. Good timetable data, he said, is essential to that goal, and no railway can achieve it alone.
Communicating timetable changes sooner
Currently, a timetable change can take several days to show up in travel apps. Starting from early 2027, DB will publish its changes within half a day instead of a day and a half, and three times a week instead of twice. MERITS will also share its updated data five days a week instead of four: from Monday to Friday. As a result, travellers will be made aware of changes sooner.
Planning trips further ahead
Interrail and Railfinder, two companies that help travellers book trains across Europe, spoke for their customers. In October 2026, someone planning a trip from Paris to Prague for May 2027 could easily find flights and buses, but almost no trains. They suggested publishing provisional timetables earlier, clearly marked as subject to change, so that travellers can plan and book up to six months ahead all year round.
Ensuring realistic connections
When a journey involves a change of train, the planner needs to know how much time a passenger needs to get from one platform to the next. These “minimum connecting times” make the difference between a seamless journey and a missed train. New European rules will require them to be published from December 2027 onwards, including those accounting for the extra time needed for passengers with reduced mobility or travelling with a bicycle. The International Rail Transport Committee (CIT) explained the rules, and UIC will publish a short guide to help railways input this information in MERITS.
Harmonising timetables
European rules now ask railway companies to publish their timetables in NeTEx, a common format already used by buses, trams, and ferries. UIC is working with Entur, the Norwegian national travel planner, to ensure MERITS is compatible with this format. Tests on real Norwegian data are promising, and UIC is studying how MERITS could publish all the timetables it holds in NeTEx.
Sharing live information across borders
Delays and cancellations must clearly be communicated alongside the planned timetable. The Real Time Mobility Data Exchange (RTMDE), the UIC platform for sharing real-time train information, already tracks more than 18,000 trains a day in 18 countries. When an international train crosses a border, it brings together updates from each railway to form a picture of the journey as a whole. More railways and ticket sellers are joining the platform, so that travellers can get reliable live information wherever they book.
Next steps
Next summer, UIC will bring railway companies together to develop an earlier provisional timetable for new international services, enabling travellers to not only find a new train but also buy a ticket for it on time. The next TTEG meeting will be held on 18 and 19 March 2027 in Brussels and hosted by the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB).
