BRUSSELS - The European Commission announced plans on Thursday to make it easier for rail passengers in Europe to buy tickets and coordinate their travel plans by train - as easily as for travelling by plane.

Rail passengers face a patchwork of systems when planning trips through the EU’s 27 member states, making it simpler for travellers to book air tickets instead.

Under the new EU regulation, reservation and ticket details will be standardised, allowing information exchanges between rail companies and ticket vendors.

“If we are serious about getting people onto rail, and particularly about having rail compete with air travel over middle distances, then we need to offer rail passengers the seamless planning and ticketing offers that match the airlines,” EU Transport Commission Siim Kallas said.

“We want to make it as easy, in the future, to book a rail ticket from Barcelona to Brussels, or Berlin to Bratislava, as it is to book a corresponding flight,” he added.

The regulation requires operators to make timetabling open to the public and force rail partners to share fare information.

The EU will present a second regulation next year that will require rail operators to standardise their computer systems and practices to facilitate the transfer of data between them.

These technical changes establish the foundation for the launch of pan-European rail passenger journey planners and ticketing tools in coming years.