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France on track to launch €49 rail pass this summer

France is set to launch its €49-a-month rail pass - modelled on Germany's successful €49 ticket - this summer, but there are expected to be some changes to the original plan.

Published: 4 April 2024 10:41 CEST
France on track to launch €49 rail pass this summer
TER (Transport Express Regional) trains are pictured at Rennes railway station on December 9, 2019. (Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP)

France is slated to introduce a €49-a-month transport pass for people under the age of 27 starting this summer, according to an announcement on Wednesday by transport minister, Patrice Vergriete.

It will become available for purchase starting on June 15th, via SNCF-Connect. According to BFMTV, a government information website with additional details on the ‘Pass Rail’ will be put online shortly.

“This is excellent news for the 700,000 young people who will benefit from it during the summer period,” the minister told the French press on Wednesday.

READ MORE: How will France’s version of the German €49-a-month train ticket work?

French President Emmanuel Macron also tweeted his enthusiasm for the plan, noting he had promised to put the ticket into action during a September segment with the YouTuber Hugo Travers.

The original plan was for the rail pass to replicate Germany’s €49 ticket (or ‘D-Ticket’), which is valid on all local and regional buses, trains and trams for all ages.

But in France, the pass will only be available for under-27s. 

The pass will be available only over the summer – opening for purchase on June 15th, and available for use during July and August. It will be renewed if it proves to be a success.

Exact details are still being finalised but it seems that the pass will be for local and slower rail services – so local TER trains and Intercité trains will be included, but not high-speed TGV routes. International services like the Eurostar will not be included.

It also appears that the greater Paris region of Île-de-France is not set to be included in the initial experiment plan for summer 2024.

This means that travellers will be able to take TER trains from one region to Paris using the single ticket, but they would not be able to travel within the Paris region it.

For the plan to succeed, the government has needed to get the regions onside, as they have had the authority to set their own transport fees since 2017. 

In early March, the government announced that the State would cover 80 percent of its cost for the unlimited rail pass, estimated to be around €15 million. The rest would have to be covered by the regions.

Ultimately, the heads of the regions eventually accepted the rail pass for summer 2024, with the exception of Île-de-France.

Xavier Bertrand, from the right-right Les Republicains party and head of the Hauts-de-France region, told Franceinfo: “We still accepted because we do not want to penalize the young people of [our region].”

Meanwhile, the head of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region said they would give the green light for a one-year experiment, but specified they would not support its renewal “without the participation of all regions”.

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TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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