Europe's railways are hoping to fend off airline-style legislation that would force them to compensate passengers when trains are late, but EU lawmakers said their voluntary passengers' charter was not good enough.
The Community of European Railways (CER), which represents most of the continent's rail networks, said yesterday it still hoped it could avoid the fate of the airline sector which will soon face beefed up mandatory EU rules on compensating passengers.
"We prefer to do our own voluntary commitment rather than have legislation imposed," CER spokeswoman Julia Macioti said.
The railways handed the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, a customer service charter last month which promises to refreshments for passengers delayed for more than three hours and a hotel room for those stranded overnight.
It also says railways will give "appropriate compensation" for delays exceeding a certain, unspecified, time.
But the Commission said it was not enough and may propose legislation minimum service levels.
"It is interesting to see what the railways are doing but right now it is not enough," said Gilles Gantelet, spokesman for EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio.
De Palacio has asked the CER to redraft its proposal by mid-autumn, improving the parts on compensation.
EU airlines produced a similar passenger rights declaration in 2001, but that did not stop the Commission drafting binding legislation.
The European Parliament and government representatives are set to pass that bill, which is likely to double the existing minimum levels of compensation for delayed and "bumped" passengers, in the coming weeks.
Airlines are engaged in last-minute lobbying to remove what they say are the worst aspects. They have already succeeded in reducing the highest level of compensation for flight cancellations to 600 euros from the Commission's proposal of 1,500 euros.
They now hope lawmakers will remove a clause that would make the final carrier in a journey involving more than one airline liable for the whole transport chain.