France Is Launching a New Low-Cost Rail Pass
You'll get unlimited monthly travel on regional and intercity trains for just €49.
Starting next summer, France will be making it more affordable to make use of the country's public transit system. A new €49 monthly pass will allow people unlimited travel on regional and intercity trains, according to Euronews.
"It will be simple. French people—irrespective of their age—can buy this pass and have unlimited travel on an intercity or TER for a flat, inexpensive price," transport minister Clément Beaune said in an interview, according to The Guardian.
The monthly pass will cost €49 (about $52 as of this writing) and account for TER regional and intercity trains, but not the high speed TGV trains. TER is the name of trains operated by the French national railway company SNCF. At the moment, the pass will not include local bus, subway, and tram tickets, but it is reportedly going to be considered for inclusion in the future.
Offering this low-cost pass is part of France's recent effort to ban short domestic flights between cities where the destination can be reached in two and a half hours or less. The launch of the French pass was inspired by the success of a similar pass successfully launched in Germany in May 2023.
The French pass will not be available until summer 2024.