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France and Germany announce 60,000 free train tickets this summer

Young people across France and Germany may be able to benefit from free rail tickets this summer, part of a joint initiative to strengthen ties between the two countries.

Published: 23 January 2023 12:08 CET
France and Germany announce 60,000 free train tickets this summer
A 2019 photo at the Gare de l'Est railway station in Paris showing a French SNCF's INOUI high speed TGV train and a Deutsche Bahn (DB) ICE high speed train. (Photo by ERIC PIERMONT / AFP)

French and Germany transport ministers announced in a joint press release that 60,000 free train tickets would be made available to young people to help facilitate exchange between the two countries this summer.

The release did not specify the age restrictions, but the ‘young person’s railcard’ schemes in France are available to people under 26.

French and German transport ministers Clément Beaune and Volker Wissing announced that “60,000 tickets will be made available free of charge, according to terms and conditions which will be specified shortly”.

The scheme will be supported financially by both countries’ national rail service – SNCF for France, and Deutsche Bahn for Germany. French media reported that tickets will be allocated through a draw.

The goal of the free ticket plan, which is set to be put into place during the summer of 2023, is to encourage young people to travel between the two countries, and to build up more cultural exchange between France and Germany. 

It was announced to coincide with the 60th anniversary of France and Germany signing of the Élysée Treaty – which helped to build bilateral cooperation between the former adversaries.

The two heads of state – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, met in Paris on Sunday to mark the occasion.

READ MORE: France, Germany firm up ties as European ‘driving force’

Additionally, the German transport minister told French daily Libération that the project was also intended to fight against climate change, by incentivising rail travel. 

“The plan aims to achieve our climate objectives for the transport sector. We need to convince even more people to travel by train. To do this, we have to offer attractive offers,” Wissing said.

Germany has already announced other schemes to encourage rail travel, such as the implementation of the €49 monthly rail pass.

READ MORE: OPINION: Why Germany’s €49 travel ticket is far better than the previous €9 ticket

The French transport ministry also highlighted that the free ticket scheme is not the only rail service plan to better connect the two countries. The Paris to Berlin high speed TGV train is set to be launched in 2024, and by late 2023 (or early 2024) the night train connecting the two cities will make its return.

READ MORE: Planes, trains, and ferries: The new international travel routes from France in 2023

Travellers can also take advantage of other high-speed lines connecting the two countries, such as the high speed direct line that already connects Paris to Munich. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

REVEALED: The German airport with the cheapest long-haul flights

Prices for long-haul flights have fallen by an average of two percent compared to 2023. But which German airport has the cheapest deals?

Published: 30 August 2024 16:25 CEST
REVEALED: The German airport with the cheapest long-haul flights

Flights from Germany to popular long-distance destinations are cheaper now than they were in 2023, according to analysis by the price comparison website CHECK24.

Having compared direct flights to 20 popular destinations, CHECK24 found that long-haul flights are two percent cheaper on average this year. 

In terms of real price, this amounts to an average of €868 for round-trip flights on long-haul routes in 2024, compared to €888 in 2023.

Long-haul flights are defined as taking more than six hours. Coming from Germany, most flights within Europe wouldn’t be considered long-haul.

Which German airport has the cheapest airfares?

Germany’s largest airport, Frankfurt Airport (FRA) offers the most non-stop connections to long-haul destinations.

It also tends to have the cheapest airfares, according to CHECK24’s analysis.

Flights from Frankfurt to Dubai cost an average of eight percent less (€737) than from Munich (€804), for example.

Direct flights to Tokyo are also cheaper from Frankfurt Airport than from Munich on average –  €1,340 and €1,409, respectively.

For direct flights to Newark on the US East Coast, passengers can save about 10 percent by flying from Frankfurt as opposed to Munich.

But interestingly, for some other connections to the United States, it can be cheaper to fly from Munich. Flying direct to Los Angeles, for instance, is 14 percent cheaper from Munich on average.

The CHECK24 report doesn’t mention price comparisons with other airports in Germany, but beyond Munich and Frankfurt, Germany’s airports don’t offer many long-haul direct flights.

For example, from Berlin, the only regular long-haul flights at the moment are to New York, Beijing, Dubai and Miami. Other far-away destinations are more often reached from here with stop-overs at larger airports, including Frankfurt and Munich.

READ ALSO: Budget airline Ryanair to cut flights from Berlin

Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is Germany’s next largest, only offers a few long-haul flights, and the only long-distance route if offers every day is to Dubai.

In most cases, Munich and Frankfurt have cheaper airfares to these locations due to the volume of flights departing from those locations. 

But of course, before you rush to book your next flight from Frankfurt, you’d want to factor in the cost of a long-distance train ticket if you live in another city.

Which destinations are cheapest now?

CHECK24’s analysis suggests that ticket prices to China have fallen the most, by 35 percent compared to 2023.

Return flights to Brazil and Costa Rica also fell significantly, by about 16 percent.

Also connections to India and Sri Lanka are nine percent cheaper on average this year  – followed by connections to Japan and Cuba, which are eight percent less on average.

On the other hand, prices for routes to Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam have all increased in the past year.

Prices for flights to the US have remained stable.

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