They finally said yes. Questioned this morning on Franceinfo, the Minister for Transport Patrice Vergriete regretted that three regional presidents had not given the green light to this 49 euro package allowing travel anywhere in France on regional and Intercités trains in July and August, for those under 27.
“All French regions have finally agreed to set up a “rail pass” reserved for young people this summer,” he said this Wednesday evening. The situation has just become clearer now.” Declaring himself “delighted” with this outcome, which will make it possible to realize a promise from President Emmanuel Macron, Patrice Vergriete thanked the President of Occitanie and Regions of France, Carole Delga, who “remobilized the regional presidents” on this file, as well as these.
A system soon to be extended to Ile-de-France?
“That’s 700,000 young people who will be able to benefit this summer and for 49 euros from free access to Intercités and TER, this is great news for young people,” added the minister. This experiment is, however, only a “first step”, the government having committed to ensuring that the system, initially inspired by a measure applied in Germany, can also be applied in Ile-de-France from 2025, according to him.
The State will cover “80% of the total cost, the regions take 20%”, recalled Patrice Vergriete, while in a first version of the project, the distribution was established at 50-50.