UIC Code 130

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16th edition, December 2000
Translation

Railway undertakings - Travel agencies

Services - Accreditation - Commission
Bahnunternehmen - Reisebüros
Leistungen - Zulassungen - Provisionen
Entreprises ferroviaires - Agences de voyages
Prestations - Accréditations - Commissions
Leaflet to be classified in Section :
I - Passenger and Baggage Traffic

Application :
With effect from 1st July 2000
All members of the International Union of Railways

Record of update :
14th edition, July 1979 Comprehensive overhaul of 100 series leaflets (approval by the
Passenger Commercial Committee - Paris, April 1979)

15th edition, July 1997 Alignment with European competition law (approval by the Passen-
ger Commission - Madrid, June 1997)

16th edition, December 2000 Retyped in FrameMaker

The person responsible for this leaflet is named in the UIC Code

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 Warning

No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or distributed by any means whatsoever, including elec-
tronic, except for private and individual use, without the express permission of the International Union of Railways
(UIC). The same applies for translation, adaptation or transformation, arrangement or reproduction by any
method or procedure whatsoever. The sole exceptions - noting the author's name and the source - are "analyses
and brief quotations justified by the critical, argumentative, educational, scientific or informative nature of the pub-
lication into which they are incorporated"
(Articles L 122-4 and L122-5 of the French Intellectual Property Code).
 International Union of Railways (UIC) - Paris, 2000

Printed by the International Union of Railways (UIC)

16, rue Jean Rey 75015 Paris - France, December 2000
Dépôt Légal December 2000

ISBN 2-7461-0241-2 (French version)

ISBN 2-7461-0242-0 (German version)
ISBN 2-7461-0243-9 (English version)

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Contents

Summary .............................................................................................................................. 1

1- Services that may be offered to customers.............................................................. 2

2- Accreditation ............................................................................................................... 3

2.1 - Sale by railway undertakings ................................................................................ 3

2.2 - Sale by an accredited agency............................................................................... 3
2.2.1 - Principle ............................................................................................................. 3
2.2.2 - Procedures......................................................................................................... 3
2.2.3 - Assumption of financial risk ............................................................................... 3
2.3 - Contents of accreditation agreements .................................................................. 3
2.3.1 - Provision of travel tickets ................................................................................... 3
2.3.2 - Sale of travel tickets ........................................................................................... 4
2.4 - Accreditation criteria ............................................................................................. 4
2.4.1 - Offices................................................................................................................ 4
2.4.2 - Staff qualification................................................................................................ 4
2.4.3 - Finance .............................................................................................................. 4

3- Relations with travel agencies................................................................................... 5

4- Commission................................................................................................................. 6

4.1 - Principle and recommendations ........................................................................... 6

4.1.1 - Principle ............................................................................................................. 6
4.1.2 - Recommendations ............................................................................................. 6
4.2 - Rates .................................................................................................................... 6
4.2.1 - Commission allocated between railway undertakings ....................................... 6
4.2.2 - Commission allocated to travel agencies........................................................... 6
4.3 - Payment ............................................................................................................... 6

5- International travel concessions ............................................................................... 7

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Appendix A - Arrangements for issuing international travel concessions .................... 8
A.1 -Purpose ................................................................................................................. 8
A.2 -Participating railways ............................................................................................. 8
A.3 -Nature of tickets..................................................................................................... 8
A.4 -Issue ...................................................................................................................... 8
A.5 -Beneficiaries .......................................................................................................... 8
A.6 -Class of travel........................................................................................................ 8
A.7 -Use ........................................................................................................................ 9
A.7.1 - Trains on which a supplement is charged.......................................................... 9
A.7.2 - Couchette/sleeper accommodation ................................................................... 9
A.7.3 - Changes of route ............................................................................................... 9
A.7.4 - "Global pricing" or "market pricing" fare structures ............................................ 9
A.8 -Calculation of quotas ............................................................................................. 9
A.8.1 - Individual travel .................................................................................................. 9
A.8.2 - Group journeys for study and promotional purposes ......................................... 9
A.9 -Working arrangements ........................................................................................ 10

Glossary ............................................................................................................................. 11

List of abbreviations.......................................................................................................... 12

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Summary

This leaflet deals with the sale of international railway services, particularly the sale by travel agencies
and the arrangements for accreditation and payment of travel agencies.

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1 - Services that may be offered to customers

These include:

1.1. - a railway undertaking’s own services;

1.2. - designated international services by groupings of railway undertakings of which the undertaking
concerned is a member;

1.3. - services provided jointly with other railway undertakings, or shipping companies;

1.4. - specific services of other railway undertakings or groupings of railway undertakings of which the
undertaking concerned is not a member.

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2 - Accreditation

2.1 - Sale by railway undertakings

Railway undertakings (acting as distributing undertakings) are authorised to sell all or part of the
services listed in point 1 - page 2 at their sales outlets under the terms of agreements with the rail-
way undertakings concerned if such agreements are required.

2.2 - Sale by an accredited agency

2.2.1 - Principle

Any railway undertaking may accredit any agency in the country of its choice for the sale of its own
services and the services for which it has been mandated.

2.2.2 - Procedures

This accreditation shall take place:

2.2.2.1. - either through direct agreement with the agency;

2.2.2.2. - or through the intermediary of a general agent who receives a clear remit from the accred-
iting railway undertaking defining the territory attributed, the services which may be sold and the com-
mission rates granted. This general agent may be a railway undertaking in the country concerned.

2.2.3 - Assumption of financial risk

With regard to other railway undertakings, the accrediting railway undertaking assumes sole financial
risk for the performance of the accreditation contract.

2.3 - Contents of accreditation agreements

In the agreements to be concluded with the agencies, it is recommended that railway undertakings
apply the following provisions:

2.3.1 - Provision of travel tickets

2.3.1.1. - for ticket-issuing purposes, the accrediting railway undertaking shall supply to the agency,
without immediate payment, either partially pre-printed tickets for electronic issuing, or fully printed
tickets;

2.3.1.2. - until such time as they are sold to the customer, the tickets remain the property of the ac-
crediting railway undertaking;

2.3.1.3. - the agency shall be responsible with respect to the accrediting railway undertaking for the
travel tickets that the undertaking puts at its disposal. All tickets must be brought to account.

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2.3.2 - Sale of travel tickets

2.3.2.1. - the agency shall ensure that the tickets entrusted to it are sold in accordance with the con-
ditions specified by the accrediting railway undertaking;

2.3.2.2. - the agency shall make out the tickets and sell them to its customers in accordance with the
tariff laid down by the railway undertaking(s) providing the service;

2.3.2.3. - when selling tickets, the agency shall be free to charge its customers a fee for additional
services provided, or to refund all or part of its commission to them, depending on the criteria and prac-
tices of its choice.

2.4 - Accreditation criteria

It is recommended that agreements only be concluded with agencies that meet the following criteria:

2.4.1 - Offices

The offices for which the approval is requested must be open at regular hours; they shall be identified
and used as a travel agency.

2.4.2 - Staff qualification

The candidate agency must have on its staff at least one competent and qualified person who is
present in the agency during normal working hours.

2.4.3 - Finance

Only firms in a sound financial position shall be approved.

To provide a satisfactory assessment of this situation, the candidate agency shall submit independ-
ently-compiled financial accounts drawn up in accordance with generally-recognised local accountan-
cy practices.

The candidate agency may also be asked to provide additional financial guarantees in the form of cau-
tion payments, for example.

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3 - Relations with travel agencies

It is particularly recommended that each railway undertaking create and foster with each travel agency
an atmosphere of trust and good relations with the rail mode.

Numerous means may be employed to create and foster this atmosphere of trust, such as:

- instructive coaching (presentations, slides, films, ...);

- regular meetings with the agency management to ascertain their particular wishes and sugges-
tions;

- periodic visits to agencies;

- supply of information brochures;

- regular publication of a dedicated journal for agencies, covering both general railway topics and
specific topics relating to contacts between the two partners;

- supply of quality advertising material, in terms of both form and content;

- organisation of study trips;

- presentation of new railway rolling stock and new installations.

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4 - Commission

4.1 - Principle and recommendations

4.1.1 - Principle

Railway undertakings providing a service shall grant commission rates to their distributors under the
conditions defined in point 4.2 - page 6.

4.1.2 - Recommendations

For sales made by travel agencies, it is recommended that accrediting railway undertakings:

4.1.2.1. - should not distinguish between agencies that they run themselves and other travel agen-
cies;

4.1.2.2. - only impose strictly necessary accounting tasks on the agencies, and in particular do not
impose upon them the task of apportioning charges for through tickets;

4.1.2.3. - warn the other railway undertakings of any malpractice on the part of any agency.

4.2 - Rates

4.2.1 - Commission allocated between railway undertakings

Railway undertakings shall set up the necessary back-office computer systems to cope with variable
commission rates and shall freely determine the commission rates they grant each other under the
terms of point 4.1.1 - page 6 (commission allocated by service provider undertakings to
distributor undertakings).

4.2.2 - Commission allocated to travel agencies

The commission rates granted to travel agencies, irrespective of the manner in which the latter were
granted accreditation, shall be determined freely by the accrediting railway undertaking.

4.3 - Payment

The railway undertaking which accredits an agency for the sale of services shall itself pay the full
amount of the commission due to that agency for the sale of the said services. The same shall apply
for the services that the agencies are authorised to obtain from railway ticket offices, except that the
commission granted in this case shall be included in that which the accrediting railway undertaking
receives from other railway undertakings for its "station" sales.

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5 - International travel concessions

In order to promote the sale of the whole range of rail services, it is recommended that service provider
railway undertakings grant international travel concessions to travel agencies in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Appendix A - page 8.

This appendix lists the railway undertakings which implement this recommendation.

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Appendices

Appendix A - Arrangements for issuing international

travel concessions

A.1 - Purpose

These regulations govern travel concessions granted to staff of travel agencies for:

- individual journeys,

- group journeys for study and promotional purposes.

A.2 - Participating railways

ATOC, BLS, CFF/SBB, CFL, CFR, CH, CP, DB, DSB, FS SpA, NS, NSB, ÖBB, ONCFM, RENFE, SJ,
SNCB, SNCF, SZ, VR (see - List of abbreviations - page 12).

A.3 - Nature of tickets

Free international tickets as per the TCV (Standard Passenger Tariff (see - List of abbreviations -
page 12)) shall be issued, subject to special endorsements.

A.4 - Issue

The commercial department of each participating railway undertaking shall designate an office to be
responsible for centralising requests from the agencies it accredits and making out the tickets. It shall
inform the other participating railway undertakings of the address of this office.

A.5 - Beneficiaries

These tickets shall be issued to persons working in the "travel" branch of the agency, and in priority to
those handling rail sales.

A.6 - Class of travel

Nominative tickets for travel in 1st class shall be issued to the owners and managers of agencies, in
2nd class to other personnel with the possibility for transfer to 1st class under the conditions laid down
in the TCV.

On FS SpA lines (see - List of abbreviations - page 12), all agency personnel qualify for 1st class trav-
el.

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Appendices

A.7 - Use

A.7.1 - Trains on which a supplement is charged

In principle, holders of free international tickets may board all trains on which a supplement is charged
on payment of the corresponding supplement. However, each service provider railway undertaking is
entitled to grant exemption from these supplements on its own lines and under certain conditions.

A.7.2 - Couchette/sleeper accommodation

Passengers shall be required to pay the reservation charges and couchette/sleeper supplements. Ex-
emption from payment of the couchette/sleeper supplement may be granted by a railway undertaking
managing the couchette-coaches or sleeping-cars for the use of its own coaches.

A.7.3 - Changes of route

Changes of route are permitted, except on CFF/SBB lines (see - List of abbreviations - page 12).

A.7.4 - "Global pricing" or "market pricing" fare structures

In the case of trains where the fares structure in force is based on "global pricing" or "market pricing",
the rules of the service provider railway undertaking concerned shall apply.

A.8 - Calculation of quotas

A.8.1 - Individual travel

For individual travel, the number of free international "round trip" tickets to be granted to any travel
agency shall be determined by the international sales turnover figure (domestic portion plus foreign
portion) recorded each year (proceeds from sale of tickets + sleeping-car vouchers, supplements for
couchettes and designated trains, reservation tickets and vouchers for vehicles conveyed on motorail-
type services) for all the participating railway undertakings mentioned in point A.2 - page 8 above.

One ticket is allocated for every 10 000 EUR of turnover. This figure may be revised periodically.

A.8.2 - Group journeys for study and promotional purposes

For group travel for fact-finding or promotional trips, railway undertakings may issue one free interna-
tional ticket per railway-accredited point of sale located on the territory of each railway undertaking.
Bilateral and multilateral agreements may be concluded in order to raise this quota.

FS SpA and RENFE (see - List of abbreviations - page 12) do not apply a special quota system for
such trips; they operate exclusively on the basis of bilateral or multilateral agreements.

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Appendices

A.9 - Working arrangements

Quotas shall be set in the course of May, for a one-year period (from 1 June of year N to 31 May of
year N+1).

By 31 March each year at the latest, each participating railway undertaking shall inform the other par-
ticipating railway undertakings of the number of international free tickets for "seated accommodation"
to which it was entitled the previous calendar year.

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Glossary

Distributing undertaking A railway undertaking which is a UIC member and which organises the
sale, via its various sales channels (stations, tour operators, travel
agencies, etc.) in accordance with UIC and CIT standards, of travel
documents for services provided by a company acting as an "allocating
company".

Service provider undertaking

Any private or public company (in accordance with EU Directive 91/440)
belonging to UIC and adhering to the CIT, and which is authorised to
transport people in international passenger traffic. The company may be
a railway undertaking or a shipping company. This service provider
company accepts travel documents issued by the accredited sales
points of "distributing companies" which are UIC members. It performs
the role of the contractual carrier with which the passenger has entered
into a contract of carriage. Execution of the transport service may be
entrusted, in part or in full, to a substitute carrier.

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List of abbreviations
ATOC Association of Train Operating Companies (Great Britain)

BLS Bernese Alps Railways: Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon

CFF/SBB Swiss federal railways

CFL Luxemburg national railways company

CFR Rumanian railways

CH Hellenic railways organisation

CIT International Rail Transport Committee

CP Portuguese railways company

DB AG German railways

DSB Danish state railways

FS SpA Italian state railways

NS Netherlands railways

NSB Norwegian state railways

ÖBB Austrian federal railways

ONCFM Moroccan national railways

RENFE Spanish national railways system

SJ Swedish state railways

SNCB Belgian state railways

SNCF French national railways company

SZ Slovenian railways

TCV Standard International Passenger and Baggage Tariff

VR Finnish State Railways

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