Rather hike in the Black Forest, enchantment at Neuschwanstein Castle or techno evening in Berlin clubs? This summer, you may be able to test everything. France and Germany will each offer 30,000 passes to young people aged 18 to 27 from their country to travel freely on the neighboring rail network, with seven days of travel offered over a period of one month. They will allow “to travel from July 1 to December 31 for a Frenchman in Germany and a German in France and to have unlimited access to the rail network”, specifies the cabinet of the Ministry of Transport. This offer will be valid for all lines, both regional and high-speed, for one month from the first trip made. It will then allow seven days of unlimited travel.
This initiative, funded by the German government, the French state, Deutsche Bahn and SNCF, was decided during the Franco-German Council of Ministers last January to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. This treaty, signed by General de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963 sealed the reconciliation between their two countries with, in particular, the creation of the Franco-German Office for Youth (OFAJ).
Priority for scholarship students and apprentices
The pass allocation platform should open Monday morning at 10 a.m. on the passefrancegermany.fr site on the principle of “first come, first served”, indicated the office of Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune, during a presentation of the project. to journalists. On the French side, half of the 30,000 passes will be distributed as a priority to “scholarship students, young apprentices or young people in integration (…) the idea being that young people further from Germany have access to this free and unlimited pass”, explained the cabinet of Clément Beaune.
Regarding apprentices, “the objective is to organize the distribution of these tickets to deserving apprentices or who have won competitions of excellence within their own organizations”, explained the cabinet of Carole Grandjean, the minister responsible for the Education and Vocational Training. For example, around 100 tickets will be reserved for the winners of the best apprentice competition and several thousand are intended for the network of apprentice training centers (CFA).