1/22
CIT supports Open Sales Distribution Model
Open Sales Distribution Model (OSDM) is a promising project in the field of ticket distribution, which aspires to become the most important way of selling tickets on the European continent in the future. The CIT has been at the forefront of this project since its inception, providing its know-how in ticketing, transport law (Passenger Rights, contractual relations) and data protection.
OSDM from technical point of view
OSDM is the new Europe-wide industry standard for ticket sales, reservations, and price distribution, a project jointly managed by UIC, railway undertakings, ticket vendors represented by EU Travel Tech and ECTAA (European Travel Agents' and Tour Operators' Association).
This standard is composed of two parts: online distribution (transport and reservation) and offline distribution (transport only). While previously the two distribution standards were separate, OSDM enables the sale of both online and offline tickets on the same interface.
For online distribution, the new OSDM standard uses an API (Application Programming Interface), which allows the distribution in real time of international travel tariffs and prices and seat reservations among railway companies’ distribution systems and make train tickets available to third party vendors around the world.
By collaborating more closely with distributors using a single interface between the different actors (Distributors, Allocators, Carriers), the railway sector has taken a major step forward in simplifying ticket distribution for passengers, including through-ticketing, and in developing a consumer-driven, innovative and a competitive distribution solution based on transparency and sustainability.
The standard is defined in IRS 90918-10 and provides a new open sales and distribution interface for the passenger transport sector:
- all fares including domestic ones (offline and online),
- interface for (multimodal) trip search (online) including bus or local transport ticketing,
- interface for booking/reservation (online),
- after sales for booking/ticket reservations and ancillary services (offline and online),
- graphical seat reservation (online).
OSDM and CIT’s contribution
CIT has been at the forefront of this project since its inception, providing its know-how in ticketing, transport law, contractual relations, and data protection. CIT’s contribution has been focused namely on following topics:
- information which needs to be exchanged via OSDM due to legal and functional requirements on the tickets (e. g. legal regimes on segments of the route, separate contracts/through-ticketing information, transportation of PRM etc.),
- legal expertise related to the GDPR and on passenger regulation rights (PRR),
- evaluation of contractual relations (relations between actors involved in passenger transportation),
- terminology related to the OSDM (CIT’s Glossary, UIC terminology, ERA’s terminology),
- amendments of CIT’s products in this respect (Manual for International Tickets).
OSDM and IRS 90918-10 replace obsolete UIC Leaflets 108-1, 108-2 and 108-3 and the existing Price and Fare Information Storage (PRIFIS). PRIFIS was for years a tariff distribution tool, a shared database containing prices and tariffs for non-yielded (NRT) tickets. Nevertheless, European Railway Agency (ERA) intents to include major part of the OSDM specification in context of TAP TSI revision, creating a new technical document B 13. A sector-driven solution for a new distribution system would become thus a part of a European legislation.
The CIT is committed to carry on support of OSDM activities, further implementation in its products and support its members in this matter.