The Agreement on Journey Continuation (AJC) is a commercial agreement between 17 major European rail operators, to allow international train passengers on the next possible train without additional costs, in case of a missed train connection.
Before the AJC, there were already other protections for rail passengers who miss a connecting train and lose their seat reservation due to a delay of the first train. These passengers are allowed on the next possible train without additional costs under certain conditions:[1]
Since 2017, the AJC provides a further protection when the above protections are not valid. The AJC protection is similar to the protection of CIV, but covers separate tickets instead of a single ticket (through ticket).
Traditionally, international trains journey could be booked all the way on one booking, then the contract obliged the ticket issuer to rebook passenger who missed a connection. But train operators have to a higher degree avoided selling such tickets, recommending passengers to buy separate tickets from each operator.
The passenger who, due to a delay or cancellation of the preceding train, misses a train on which he has a seat reservation, is allowed on the next possible train without additional costs under these conditions:[1][2][3][4]
The agreement is developed by the International Rail Transport Committee (CIT).
The signatories are:
The agreement is open to new signatories.[7]
As of 2022, all signatories are European national rail operators. No open-access operators have signed yet.