EU proposes end to ‘five tabs, three apps and a prayer’ for cross-border train bookings
Cross-border train journeys through several European countries are the stuff of many a holidaymaker’s dreams.But the reality of trying to buy the tickets, navigating multiple websites without knowing who can help if a connection is missed, can prove less than relaxing.As one MEP puts it, it can often require “five tabs, three apps and a prayer”.Now, however, the European Commission has proposed that before the end of the decade passengers should be able to buy one ticket for one journey and be better protected when trains are late or cancelled.“Europeans will be able with the click of a button to plan, compare and purchase multimodal journeys across borders while benefiting from stronger rail passenger rights, greater transparency and better protection every step of the way,” the EU transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said on Wednesday, as he published new rules intended to transform the “excessively complex” experience he said rail travellers met when booking tickets.
Asked about the timing, he said: “Before the end of this commission mandate [in 2029] we will have this new era of rail on the ground working.”Under the plans, major railway companies, such as Deutsche Bahn, SNCF and Trenitalia, would be forced to sell competitors’ tickets on their websites, and share data with booking platforms enabling an offer of single tickets for long cross-border journeys.In an expansion of consumer protection laws, passengers would be entitled to help in the event of a missed connection: the operator that caused the delay would ensure the passenger has the right to hop on the next train, or reimbursement, food and accommodation, depending on the circumstances.The plans have to be agreed by EU member states and the European parliament before they become law, and they already face stiff opposition from train operators.The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) said: “Underneath the surface of this rosy vision lies unprecedented and unjustified regulatory interventionism.
”The CER said the rail tickets market “largely meets” customer expectations, citing a Eurobarometer survey where 73% of people said it was easy to book two or more connecting trains for one journey.But the same survey also found 43% of total respondents had not booked such journeys.The railway group also argues the plans would give too much power to large tech companies operating as booking platforms, enabling them “to dictate higher distribution fees and drive up ticket prices”.In contrast, consumer groups welcomed the plans.“Booking a rail ticket has become far too complex in recent years.
New EU rules would go a long way to making that easier, by opening up sales on more platforms,” said the head of the European Consumers Organisation, Agustín Reyna.A 2025 YouGov poll of seven European countries found that two out of three long-distance rail passengers encountered difficulties when buying tickets, while 43% said they would take a train more often if ticket reservations were easier.A separate university study found that booking a train took 70% longer than booking a flight.Responding to the charge of regulatory overreach, Tzitzikostas said the proposals were “100% pragmatic” and everyone, including rail companies, would see benefits when they were implemented.Ticket prices, he predicted, would fall as a result because of greater transparency and competition: “As booking becomes simpler we expect more Europeans to choose rail more often.
”A study by Greenpeace in 2025 found flights were cheaper than trains on 54% of 109 cross-border routes.Rail travel also tended to be more expensive when multiple operators and tickets were involved, the NGO said.France, the UK, Spain and Italy were among the most expensive countries for cross-border rail.Lena Schilling, an Austrian Green MEP on the European parliament’s transport committee, said: “Why does crossing EU borders by rail require five tabs, three apps and a prayer?”The proposals, she added, needed to deliver on three points: “Seamless cross-border booking across Europe, full passenger rights and clear liability for the entire journey, and open access to ticketing data so travellers can book on the platform of their choice.”
Google announces raft of free upgrades for Android phones
Google has announced a range of features coming to Android phones this year, including a new Gemini Intelligence AI system and a tool to help users avoid distracting apps.Revealed in a livestreamed “Android Show” event, the free upgrades are scheduled to arrive in waves over the next year for high-end new and old phones alike, including Samsung and Pixel devices. Google also revealed that a new lineup of laptops will arrive in the autumn.Gemini Intelligence will combine the company’s top AI tools into one system aimed at being more proactively useful.It will be able to automate tasks by directly interacting with the apps already on a phone
Head of Microsoft’s Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military
The head of Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military.Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale.The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found the military’s elite spy agency, Unit 8200, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast trove of intercepted calls from Gaza and the West Bank.The inquiry commissioned by Microsoft is understood to have recently concluded. Its findings are unclear; however, sources familiar with the situation said they prompted an announcement last week that Microsoft Israel’s general manager, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company
GameStop’s $55.5bn bid for eBay rejected as ‘neither credible nor attractive’
The board of eBay has rejected the US video games retailer GameStop’s surprise $55.5bn bid (£41bn) for the online marketplace, describing the proposal as “neither credible nor attractive”.Earlier this month, GameStop made an unsolicited bid for eBay, publishing a letter on its website outlining a half-cash, half-stock proposal.This was despite the US games company – which became a global household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 – being worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn before its bid, almost a quarter of eBay’s $46bn valuation
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian.Donald Trump is headed to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, would join Trump
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI
Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO – who is close to Trump but criticized the US’s limitations on chip sales to China in an April interview, saying that he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI – will not be joining the president
Molière Ex Machina: AI used to create ‘new work’ by beloved French playwright
Molière is to the French what Shakespeare is to the English: the last word in historical literature, drama, wit and satire.Now, more than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style.L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer, or False Omens), a three-act comedy, made its debut at the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles last week.The two-hour play tells the story of a wealthy bourgeois Parisian who, under the instruction of a charlatan astrologer called Pseudoramus, insists his daughter Lucile marry a debt-ridden and elderly wigmaker.While the theme could well have been dreamed up by Molière, the dialogue, music, costumes and scenery were all created with the help of a French AI tool called Le Chat (The Cat)
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Ah, ah, ah, ah - I saved my dad’s life with a little help from The Office and the Bee Gees