2024-09-02 18:55:22
The Transport Ministry said on Monday that 235,376 rail passes, which allow young people aged 16 to 27 unlimited train rides in July and August through a monthly subscription, had been sold.
In total, he said, nearly 2.4 million zero-euro notes were given. Thus, the rail pass launched in early June allows more than 230,000 young people to travel unlimited times on regional trains (TER) or Intercités for a monthly subscription fee of 49 euros.
TGVs, including the most expensive and popular train, the Ouigo, were excluded from the system proposed by the government in early June.
15 million euros
He added: “This is also an opportunity for me to remind everyone that we must never forget our young people in our transport policy priorities.”
The measure costs 15 million euros, 80% of which is financed by the state and 20% by the regions (TER organizing bodies). Some of them were also reluctant to sponsor the initiative before they joined. Île-de-France, with its Navigo pass costing 86.40 euros per month, remains excluded.
The government expected 700,000 rail passes to be sold when they were released, far more than the number that ultimately sold.
But according to the Department of Transport, the 700,000 figure is just the “maximum potential of customers who might subscribe to a rail pass”, not a target.
“Commercial measures”
The French regional association would not comment on the figures. “For us, the rail pass is one of the commercial measures, because we know that we already have many regional offers for young people,” reacted an expert from the regional authorities association.
The French Association of Regions wants to carry out a qualitative survey to find out “how many young people are persuaded” to take the train with a rail pass. The first assessment will be published at the end of September or early October, the expert said, “TER has an average of 1.3 million trips per day, a third of which are made by young people”. He pointed out that this figure reflects 2.4 million trips made with rail passes in two months.
However, the offer launched in early June was more successful than the last similar initiative, as the €29 monthly rail pass reserved for young people has been available for 2020 and 2021. For TER alone, it has sold out 70,000 in the first year and 84,000 in the second.
The rail pass, launched this year, was announced by Emmanuel Macron last September as a subscription model developed in Germany for all ages, available all year round, not just in the summer.
In France, no decision has yet been made on renewing the rail pass offer for next summer or expanding it beyond the 16-27 age group.
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