Two passes to facilitate the travels of young people in France and Europe

The mobility of the young, whether national and international, is often perceived as a highly positive opportunity through the prism of studies and trainings, but the “mobile leisure activities” or “inclusive mobilities” may also be an instrument of “citizenship education”, according to the ministry in charge of youth. According to a poll by Elabe (an opinion poll institute), about a third of 18-24 years gave up several times to everyday life activities, leisure activities in particular, because they did not have access to a transport solution[1].

Gradual process for Pass Rail

And in this spirit and to correct to remedy this situation that Pass Rail is “once again on tracks” as the official website of the government writes. The website reminds that in September 2023, the French president had offered to create a rail pass, conditional to the approval of regional authorities, which are competent for the organisation of regional rail transports, and it announced that the process has progressed “despite the complexity of the implementation of this system”.

And the ministry of transports adds that “technical services from the government and regions, with the support from French rail SNCF teams, have studied the conditions of technical and financial implementation of a rail pass and studied several deployment scenarios”. So “to answer to the concerns raised by immediate generalisation” of this new system, “regions had the opportunity to engage in a gradual process, with a first experimentation step targeting young people under 27 years old who will have the opportunity to travel freely on regional trains (TER and Intercités) for 49€ per month this summer”, excluding the Île-de-France region.

An extension is possible for next year in Île-de-France

To achieve the conclusion of an agreement with regions, the government “is ready to cover about 80% of the cost of the system” as assessed by the SNCF. Thanks to this financial gesture, this new provision led in 3 April to “a consensus between regions to commit a first implementation step of the rail pass”.

As the government’s information website underlines, the government will “study an extension of the system to the Île-de-France region, in collaboration with Île-de-France mobilités” subject to results registered. It is worth noting that these new Pass Rail should start as early as 15 June on the SNCF Connect app, and that a government website dedicated to information about Pass Rail should also be accessible soon.

DiscoverEU to discover Europe free of charge

At European scale, the new edition of DiscoverEU has just been launched to discover Europe free of charge by train, a system that “gives the opportunity to explore the diversity of Europe, discover its cultural heritage and history, and meet people from all over the continent”. Young Europeans born between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2006 may submit their application by answering a series of questions to the DiscoverEU programme to travel free of charge in Europe if they are selected. You must live in an EU Member State (or a country non-Member of the EU), provided that this country is included in the Erasmus+ mobility programme.

DiscoverEU is indeed an action included in the Erasmus+ programme, that “offers the opportunity to young people to experience a short duration collective or individual travel throughout by train”. For this edition, 35,500 young people aged 18 years old will receive an Inter-rail pass for all of Europe, including about 5,000 young French. Warning: registrations to participating in the sorting are open until 30 April.

[1] https://elabe.fr/etude-mobilite-emploi-4emes-rencontres-de-mobilite-inclusive/