1. Railway undertakings, ticket vendors and tour operators shall offer tickets and, where available, through-tickets and reservations.
2. Without prejudice to paragraphs 3 and 4, railway undertakings shall sell, either directly or through ticket vendors or tour operators, tickets to passengers via at least one of the following means of sale:
(a)
ticket offices, other points of sale or ticketing machines;
(b)
telephone, the internet or any other widely available information technology;
(c)
on board trains.
The competent authorities, as defined in point (b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007, may require railway undertakings to offer tickets for services provided under public service contracts via more than one means of sale.
3. Where there is no ticket office or ticketing machine in the station of departure, passengers shall be informed at the station of:
(a)
the possibility of purchasing tickets via telephone or the Internet or on board the train, and of the procedure for such purchase;
(b)
the nearest railway station or place at which ticket offices or ticketing machines are available.
4. Where there is no ticket office or no accessible ticketing machine in the station of departure and no other accessible means to purchase a ticket in advance, persons with disabilities shall be permitted to buy tickets on board the train at no extra cost. Railway undertakings may limit or deny this right on justifiable grounds related to security or compulsory train reservation.
Where there is no staff on board the train, the railway undertaking shall advise the persons with disabilities whether to and inform them on how to purchase the ticket.
Member States may allow railway undertakings to require that persons with disabilities are recognised as such in accordance with the relevant national law and practices of the country of their residence.
Member States may extend the right referred to in the first subparagraph to all passengers. Where Member States apply this option, they shall inform the Commission accordingly. The European Union Agency for Railways shall publish the information on its website relating to the implementation of Regulations (EU) No 454/2011 and (EU) No 1300/2014.