Service brands are used:
In time table information (MERITS)
To associate a service brand with a service mode or a train generic service mode (Train, High speed train, Interregional, Regional, (Sub) urban, Night train, Motor rail, Mountain train, Historic train).
In reservation (Leaflet 918)
- to attribute a special text printed on the ticket
- to assign special pricing systems to a product for supplements and/or global prices as the ticket text for a tariff description might depend on the service brand
- to inform a distribution system to take special actions based on bilateral agreements
In accounting( Leaflet 301)
The service brand is included in the accounting records according to leaflet 301 for statistical reasons.
In Global Price and Market Price (Leaflet 108.2)
The service brand (Train category) is present on the tariff file
As a train is hosted in one system only, the service brand used in reservation will be unique. The service brand in MERITS data is delivered by all railways participating on the train route. The participating railways are responsible to deliver data with a unique service brand.
Additional service brands must not be requested to solve internal problems of the systems (i.e. requesting additional codes for internal statistics or internal accounting issues).
If more than one RU is participating on the train route, the request for a service brand must be a joint request of all participating RUS.
Request for service brand code
The request must be made 3 month before the new code is used in systems (i.e. 3 months before the start of reservation and 3 months before data delivery in MERITS) using the forms below.