Managing Intermodal Tickets Digitally
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Rail transport · Organisation: DB Systel · Maturity level: Pilot
DB Systel uses SSI wallets and Web3 technologies to digitally manage tickets, discounts, and additional mobility services. The blockchain-based solution enables transparent and fair revenue allocation between various mobility providers in real time. The goal is an open, decentralized digital ecosystem for the entire transport sector.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot
- Evidence: Evidence high
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 12 July 2026
Description
DB Systel, the IT service provider of Deutsche Bahn, uses blockchain technology, SSI wallets and Web3 applications to digitally manage tickets, discounts and other mobility services. The focus is particularly on the transparent and fair distribution of revenues between different mobility providers when travellers use intermodal travel chains – that is, journeys across multiple modes of transport. The platform is intended to create an open, decentralised digital ecosystem that can be quickly expanded to include new mobility providers and build trust between the companies involved without the need for a central control authority.
In the modern mobility market, travellers often use combinations of train, bus, sharing services and other modes of transport – so-called intermodal travel chains. The fair distribution of revenues among the providers involved is complex, prone to errors and requires mutual trust. DB Systel addresses this problem with a blockchain-based platform built on Hyperledger Fabric and supported by IBM as a technology partner. Additionally, SSI wallets (Self-Sovereign Identity) and Web3 technologies are used to manage digital identities and entitlements for tickets and discounts in a decentralised and tamper-proof manner. The solution enables real-time revenue distribution, makes each provider's share transparent and reduces the need for manual billing processes between partners. DB Regio, another Deutsche Bahn entity, is involved in the solution, and the long-term goal is a comprehensive travel platform that bundles the entire mobility offering – from ticket booking and discounts to other services – in an open digital ecosystem.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
For mobility providers, transport associations and cooperation partners, the platform offers a reliable, transparent basis for joint billing of intermodal tickets without a central intermediary. Automated revenue distribution via the blockchain reduces disputes between partners and creates the foundation for a rapidly growing ecosystem of new cooperation partners.
B2C — consumers perspective
For end travellers, the blockchain infrastructure is not directly visible in the background, but it enables more seamless and simpler intermodal travel experiences with unified digital tickets in the long term. The use of SSI wallets could give travellers more control over their own travel data and proof of entitlement in the future.
Employees perspective
For employees in billing, IT and product development, the introduction of blockchain and SSI technologies changes the way they work: manual reconciliation processes are replaced by automated smart contract logic, which requires new technical skills. At the same time, new areas of responsibility arise around the management and further development of decentralised identity and billing systems.
Benefits
General
- Transparent and fair revenue distribution between mobility providers in real time
- Reduction of manual billing efforts through automated processes
- Building a trust-based, open mobility ecosystem without a central control authority
- Extensibility of the platform to discounts and other mobility services
B2B — organisations
- Faster and less conflict-prone billing between cooperation partners in the network
- Simple onboarding of new mobility providers into the open ecosystem
- Building trust between competing providers through immutable transaction data
Employees
- Relief from repetitive manual billing and reconciliation tasks
- New career opportunities in blockchain, Web3 and digital identities
Challenges
General
- Integration of a wide variety of mobility providers and systems into a common ecosystem
- Creating trust and common standards between competing companies
- Complexity of technical implementation and operation of a permissioned blockchain infrastructure
B2B — organisations
- Need for industry-wide consensus on standards, governance and data access
- High initial investments in technology and integration for all partners involved
Employees
- Building new technical skills around blockchain, SSI and Web3 within the existing team
Technology foundation
The solution is based on Hyperledger Fabric as a permissioned blockchain, which IBM and DB Systel use as their preferred platform for enterprise applications. Additionally, SSI wallets (Self-Sovereign Identity) and Web3 technologies are used to manage digital identities and authorisations for tickets and discounts in a decentralised manner. Hyperledger Fabric is particularly suitable for this use case because it enables privacy-compliant, permissioned transaction management between defined participants and meets the requirements of a regulated transport ecosystem.
Implementation examples
Blockchain-based revenue distribution and digital ticketing at DB Systel
In the intermodal mobility market, the fair and transparent distribution of revenues among multiple providers is a complex challenge, as there is no central, universally accepted authority to perform this task. Blockchain creates trust among the participants and enables automated, traceable billing.
DB Systel, together with IBM and DB Regio, has developed a blockchain platform based on Hyperledger Fabric that enables transparent and fair revenue distribution among mobility providers in real time. Additionally, SSI wallets and Web3 technologies are used for the digital management of tickets, discounts, and other services.
DB Systel, the IT service provider of Deutsche Bahn, has developed a platform within its blockchain activities that transparently manages intermodal mobility data and revenues among various providers. The technological foundation is Hyperledger Fabric, implemented by IBM as the preferred enterprise blockchain platform for DB Systel. The solution makes each provider's share of revenues visible in real time, thereby reducing disputes and manual reconciliation processes within the network. Additionally, DB Systel uses SSI wallets and Web3 technologies to manage tickets, discounts, and other mobility services digitally and decentralised. The long-term goal is an open, decentralised digital ecosystem for the entire transport sector that can quickly expand to include new mobility partners. Deutsche Bahn describes such blockchain use cases as activities ranging from research and prototyping to field application, although the exact production status of this specific use case is not publicly clearly stated.
The biggest challenge was to create an open ecosystem that can quickly integrate many different mobility companies while ensuring mutual trust among competing providers. The decentralised blockchain structure solves the problem of the missing neutral trust authority.
Tags
Intermodality, SSI wallet, Ticketing, Revenue distribution, Hyperledger, Web3, Mobility platform