Eurail

Eurail is a Luxembourg- based corporation that offers different versions of train tickets at flat rates. Eurail passes are intended for travelers who want to travel to Europe by train and are therefore only given to customers who are domiciled outside of Europe.

Society

Eurail Group GIE was founded in 2001 and replaced the previous group that had been selling Eurail and Interrail passes since 1959 . The company is registered in Luxembourg but has its main office in Utrecht . Various European rail and ferry companies are involved in the company and together enable this type of travel.

The customer

Eurail passes are only intended for customers who are resident outside of Europe. Russia and Turkey are also excluded . Customers within Europe receive Interrail passes, except for their country of residence.

The specials

With the different versions of the Eurail Pass, up to 33 different countries can be traveled by rail and some main shipping lines. Involved

Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Denmark Germany Estonia Finland

France (including Monaco ) Greece Great Britain Ireland (including Northern Ireland ) Italy Croatia Latvia

Lithuania Luxembourg Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Austria (including Liechtenstein )

Poland Portugal Romania Sweden Switzerland Serbia Slovakia

Slovenia Spain Czech Republic Turkey Hungary

The Eurail passes are available in different versions:

• The Global Pass entitles you to travel to 33 countries and is valid for 15 or 22 days, one, two or three months. Flexible variants of the Global Pass are valid on 4, 5 or 7 freely selectable days within a month, or 10 or 15 freely selectable days within two months.
• The One Country Pass offers the opportunity to travel within the borders of 25 countries. There is no One Country Pass for Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Switzerland . The One Country Pass Benelux includes Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and the One Country Pass Scandinavia includes Denmark , Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Discounts

• Young people up to the age of 27 receive a pass 23% cheaper (Youth) .
• Up to two children (between 0 and 11 years of age) can travel for free with an adult
• Seniors (60+): 10% discount on the full price

Prices

Depending on the scope, time frame and car class, the prices are very different. A three-month Global Pass costs $ 1,388 1st class and $ 1,041 2nd class. Juniors 27 and under pay 1st class $ 1,067 and 2nd class $ 800. For ten freely selectable days within two months, $ 475 is due.

A One Country Pass costs differently depending on the country.

Reservations

Seat reservations are usually not required for local or regional trains with the Eurail Pass. However, reservations are required for most high-speed, international and night trains. Additional surcharges are often required in order to use secure seat reservations and other additional services (e.g. food and drinks, free WiFi, etc.). These fees can usually be avoided by taking regional or local trains instead. You can make reservations at the train station, online with the various modes of transport or on the Eurail website, in the Rail Planner app, by telephone via call centers or at your travel agency.

High-speed trains

Reservations are required on many high-speed trains. In some cases an additional fee is payable and sold as either a surcharge or a pass holder fare. Examples are:

• Eurostar (London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels) 2nd class = € 10 to 35, 1st class = € 15 to 43 plus € 10 "service charge" for bookings at train stations or by telephone.
• Thalys (Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne) 2nd class = 15 to 25 €, 1st class = 25 to 30 €
• TGV (domestic routes) 1st or 2nd class from 10 to 20 €
• Trenitalia (Italy): Frecciabianca, Frecciargento, 1st or 2nd class € 10
• AVE (Spain) 2nd class € 10, 1st class € 13 or € 23.50
• Reservation fees for 2nd class (€ 6.50) and 1st class (€ 10) are also payable for most other long-distance trains in Spain (e.g. Arco, Euromed, Alvia, Alaris, Altaria).
• In Germany and Austria, practically all fast InterCity and InterCityExpress trains can be used without additional charges of any kind. ICE trains (Germany) do not require a reservation, but are available for € 4.50 for 2nd class and € 5.90 for 1st class.
• SJ high-speed train (in Sweden and to Copenhagen) 2nd class € 7 / 1st class € 17.

Night trains

Aside from the high-speed trains, many night trains in Europe require reservations with additional costs for sleeping accommodation. For a Eurail Global Pass that uses a direct night train, you only need to fill in one travel day of the pass for the day of departure, even if the train departs on one calendar day and arrives the next. However, this rule does not apply if the first day the pass is valid.

Discounts on private trains

The Eurail Pass is normally only valid on the national rail networks of the countries concerned. In many countries, however, there are also private railway networks, which are free or discounted for passport holders. Usually the discounts are between 25% and 50%.

history

• 1959: Eurail is founded and valid in 13 countries
• 1971: The student Railpass (2nd class) is introduced.
• 1980: Eurail becomes valid in 16 countries
• 1991: The Eurail Pass is now also valid for East Germany and enables travel to the reunified Germany.
• 2001: Introduction of the Eurail Select Pass
• 2007: Eurail Pass is renamed Eurail Global Pass
• 2008: The Slovenian and Croatian railway companies merge and the pass becomes valid in 20 countries.
• 2009: 50 years of the Eurail Pass. The Eurail Pass is valid in 21 countries.
• 2013: Introduction of the Rail Planner App
• 2015: 2 children under the age of 11 can now travel for free with at least one adult. Poland, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia join the Eurail Global Pass.
• 2016: The Eurail Global Pass is valid for 28 countries. All passes are available 11 months in advance.
• 2017: Eurostar joins the Eurail group. The age limit for the Interrail Pass for young people has been increased to 27 years. Introduction of 2 new pass options: Eurail One Country France Pass and Eurail Italy Switzerland Select Pass.
• 2019: 1st and 2nd class are available for all products (except the Greek islands). In addition, the Lithuanian Railways join. The new Greek Islands Pass is now also valid for 5 domestic trips and a total of 53 islands.
• 2020: Estonia and Latvia join the Eurail group.

See also

• Euro Domino for European rail customers (always for one country)

Web links

• Eurail home page

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ http://www.eurail.com/eurail_passes
3. ↑ Beginner's guide to Eurail passes 2019 | Buy a Eurail pass online. Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Do I need a reservation? Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Reservations. In: Eurail Group GIE.Retrieved April 24, 2019 (American English). 
6. ↑ How do I book my reservations? Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Can I use my interrailing pass on Eurostar? - Eurostar Help Center. Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Thalys high-speed train. Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
9. ↑ TGV high-speed train. Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
10. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG, Passenger Transport Division, Marketing eCommerce: Seat reservation. Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
11. ^ SJ: Our trains - SJ. Retrieved April 24, 2019 . 
12. ^ Night Trains in Europe. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .