Sweden launches central booking system for public transport
- Pinnacle Team
- Sep 4
- 2 min read
Sweden has become the first country in Europe to implement a nationwide public transport booking process using the Open Sales and Distribution Model (OSDM) online standard. This was made possible by the National Distribution System (NDS) developed by Samtrafiken, which allows customers to book tickets for over 50 rail and bus operators within Sweden.
This innovative system was developed in partnership with the Estonian travel tech company Turnit. Turnit's technology gives users access to multiple booking platforms from a central site, making it easy to plan trips by integrating the services of various rail operators.
The NDS combines bus and rail tickets from various providers, including Sweden's state-owned railway company SJ, Norway's Vy Group, Arlanda Express, MTRX, and 21 independent regional public transport authorities. The introduction of this system has made travel within Sweden even easier, which aligns with the goals of OSDM, developed by the International Union of Railways.
Samtrafiken highlighted the four key components of the NDS, explaining that it allows travel retailers to use a "data warehouse" to store ticket products, the TRAID sales tool, trip searches for all available ground-based group transport, and a central distribution hub.
The NDS also integrates Samtrafiken's Resplus system, which has been in place for 20 years, providing customers with an automatic rebooking function if they miss a connection. This innovation is making a significant contribution to the advancement of public transport booking systems not only in Sweden but around the world. Based on this success, Turnit is collaborating with several organizations worldwide, including a case in July 2023 where Transport for New South Wales hired the company to build a new customer booking system.
March 6, 2024
