The IRT (Integrated Reservation Ticketing) working group held his meeting in Antwerp, on 14 and 15 September, at NMBS/ SNCB offices in Antwerp Central Station. Representatives from NMBS/SNCB, MAV START, SBB, TRENITALIA, SNCF, CD, DB, ÖBB, THALYS, LINKON, NS, PKP and the CIT were present. Laurent Pollet, president of the group chaired the meeting. UIC was represented by Mr Luis Casado.

The meeting started with a presentation from LINKON about the situation of railways in Sweden, a liberalised market based on IRT ticketing with international connections. This was followed by the presentation of the new Special Conditions for International Carriage: a document had been prepared previously during an editorial meeting, and it was presented to the group to make the definitive modifications so it could be approved. Vivid debates took place regarding the most controversial aspects of this document, but finally a definitive version was approved. It is planned to have the appendixes with all the relevant information supplied by companies during the next weeks, so the document can be finalised.

Finally, the chairman went through the provisions of UIC Leaflet 106 that affect the IRT systems. This leaflet is being revised by the different working groups affected, and the definitive provisions were approved. The new version of the leaflet will be presented at the next Commercial Group Meeting.

The second session began with a presentation from the CIT regarding several topics starting with the common glossary for IRT, NRT and EWT, SCIC documents and the new Manual for International Rail Tickets (MIRT). Finally, Mr Peter Maleux gave a presentation about the PRISM project and the state of the art of the three pilot projects that are taking place at the moment.

The next IRT meeting will take place on 14 and 15 September 2017 in Frankfurt.