How it is measured

Every day a program opens the railway sellers' websites and searches for the same connections, just as a person would. It stores the lowest fare shown for each train for 1 adult in 2nd class without any discount or railcard.

What counts as “the same train”

Two offers count as the same train if departure and arrival times match, or if they share a train number and the times differ by no more than 15 or 20 minutes. Only fares checked on the same day are compared.

What is excluded

• Fares that are only valid for part of the route (e.g. “ticket only for part of the journey”).
• Connections without a fare shown.

Currency conversion

Fares in CHF, CZK and PLN are converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of the day they were checked. Paying with a euro card usually gives a rate 1–3 % worse.

Limitations

• I compare the lowest fare shown. At one seller this may be a saver fare, at another a flexible standard fare.
• Fares change constantly; each measurement is a snapshot.
• Booking fees charged at payment are not included for railways. For the reseller Omio an estimated service fee is added (about 6.5 % of the fare, at least €2), as it applies to every booking there.

Data

The comparison data is openly available as a CSV file, with a 7-day delay: it contains all checks that are at least 7 days old. Current fares are shown on the route pages.

License: CC BY 4.0. You may use the data freely, including commercially, if you credit “Train Price Comparison” with a link to this site.