OREANDA-NEWS. Young Europeans are on track to receive a free InterRail pass on their 18th birthday in the future. MEPs discussed the proposal and overwhelmingly supported it during a debate in plenary on 4 October. Millions of young European have travelled throughout the continent using Interrail over the last few decades, but the pass itself can cost up to hundreds of euros.

About InterRail 

Interrail is a pass allowing young people to travel across Europe’s rail network freely for a month. Users can use it to travel wherever they like on the continent.

Some 300,000 people use InterRail passes to travel across Europe every year.   An InterRail pass cost ranges between €20 and €473 for a month-long pass.  

What is being proposed 

The idea behind the proposal discussed in Parliament is to promote a travel mode with low greenhouse gas emissions, while enabling young European to meet and get to know Europe.

Some member states are not members of the InterRail network: Malta, Cyprus, Estonia, Lativa and Lithuania. For them other means of transport such as buses and ferries could be considered.

Commission support 

During the debate on 4 October, Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc called the proposal an “excellent idea”: “The scheme could progressively become intermodal and not only remain limited to InterRail services.” She also suggested giving other people the same opportunity to discover Europe:  “It may be attractive to have a lottery with significant amounts of people winning free tickets [to travel across Europe].”

Reactions from political groups

Most political groups spoke out in favour of the proposal. 

Manfred Weber, from EPP, said: “People all around Europe must get to discover neighbouring countries and live with the people there as friends. We want to invest in all young people to experience the continent."

Luigi Morgano, from S&D, said: “Investing in young people, enabling people to travel around Europe, promoting better understanding and knowledge about Europe is a wonderful enchanting idea.”