Inter-railways data sharing for seamless travelling applications in Europe

Cross-border railway travel in Europe continues to face significant challenges due to fragmented digital ecosystems, incompatible data standards, and regulatory inconsistencies, despite progress in national railway markets. This study set out to investigate how data interoperability and emerging data-sharing ecosystems—particularly European Rail Data Spaces—can address these persistent barriers. Through stakeholder focus groups with national operators (ÖBB, SBB, DB), expert interviews, and a comparative analysis of existing data models such as Transmodel, GTFS, and NeTEx, the research identified key organizational and technical bottlenecks. The findings demonstrate that while standardized data formats have the potential to enhance interoperability, their fragmented adoption and lack of harmonized implementation across countries limit their effectiveness. To address these issues, the study proposes a theoretical framework for seamless cross-border rail integration, emphasizing the critical role of trusted, interoperable data environments in supporting a unified European railway network.