Passenger Rights Ordinance Application Act

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Basic data
Title: Law on the application of Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2007 on the rights and obligations of rail passengers
Short title: Passenger Rights Ordinance Application Act
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Administrative law
References : 934-2
Issued on: May 26, 2009
( BGBl. I p. 1146 )
Entry into force on: July 29, 2009
Expiry: December 3, 2009
(Section 2 of the Act)
Weblink: Text of the law
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The law on the application of Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2007 on the rights and obligations of passengers in rail traffic (Passenger Rights Ordinance - Application Act) is a time law, i. H. a time-limited law (so-called sunset legislation in the broader sense). It declares the passenger rights contained in Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007 to be applicable from July 29, 2009. With effect from December 2, 2009 (when Regulation 1371/2007 comes into force), the application law ceased to be in force.

Necessity of the law of application

In terms of legal policy, it has long been desired that the railway companies, as providers of mass services , be liable to pay compensation if delays occur for which the company is responsible. In order to ensure that the provisions of the EC regulation apply earlier, the legislature has declared the provisions to be national law. Museum railways or "local rail passenger transport services that are mainly operated for reasons of historical interest or for tourist purposes" are excluded from this.

Regulatory content of the EC regulation

The application law only has real material content to the extent that reference is made to the provisions of the EC regulation. The EC regulation contains several rules on compensation for delays in local and long-distance transport. In addition, the ordinance contains provisions on liability in the event of personal injury and information obligations of the railway companies.

As a flat-rate compensation, a

  • Delays of 60 minutes and more will refund 25% of the fare; if it is necessary to stay overnight in a hotel due to such a delay, the railway company has to pay for it (the company offers the possibility to stay overnight).
  • Delays of 120 minutes and more 50% of the fare

Compensation is excluded if

  • the delay was caused by the traveler himself,
  • the delay was caused by a third party
  • the delay is due to an external circumstance that does not belong to the railway operation
  • the compensation amounts to less than 4.00 euros

If the traveler is the holder of a season ticket, the railway company must compensate him appropriately. Recourse to the flat rates is ruled out.

Instead of compensation, the traveler can also withdraw from the contract of carriage after a delay of 60 minutes or more, so that the fare must be reimbursed. Instead, the traveler can also request that he be able to take a later train.

It must be possible for people with restricted mobility to easily reach the railway company's facilities for rail transport. In the future, the railway companies will be obliged to inform about delays during the journey; They are also obliged to inform about the availability of the complaint offices. Of course, the shortest, fastest or cheapest connections when selling tickets must also be mentioned.

The railway companies must provide complaint and arbitration bodies for quality assurance.

Implementation costs

The legislator has only quantified the implementation costs for the administration. The Federal Railway Authority will incur costs of around two million euros and the federal state authorities around 0.5 million euros.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1371/2007