By train to the neighbor: Germany and France are giving young people 60,000 free train tickets to strengthen Franco-German friendship. Former head of state Hollande says: “The path is the goal.”
The offer sounded tempting, but it got off to a rocky start: Shortly after the website for the friendship pass went online in mid-June, nothing worked. Too many people had tried to register. Because the rule was: first come, first served. 30,000 tickets each were issued on the German and French sides.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, Deutsche Bahn and the French counterpart SNCF were commissioned to implement the ticket. Which in turn had the task of transferring Eurail as a partner company from Europe’s railways for Interrail tickets.
A ministry spokesman explains the overload:
According to the companies, when the registration opened on Monday, June 12, 2023 at 10 a.m., 5.9 million page views were recorded within a few minutes. Unfortunately, the enormous demand has led to massive technical difficulties on the website of the commissioned service provider.
The server overload was annoying and shouldn’t happen. The quota of 30,000 passports for Germany was exhausted within just 30 minutes.
A bit like Interrail
The principle of the train ticket is reminiscent of the Interrail ticket. It is aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 27. Until the end of December, Germans in France and French in Germany can use the pass for a month on seven freely selectable days. The offer applies to local and long-distance trains and is not aimed at commuters, but at people who want to travel to the neighboring country.
With the offer, politicians want to strengthen Franco-German friendship. The ticket was launched as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations for the Élysée Treaty in January.
The Federal Ministry of Transport advertises the ticket as “a great offer for young people to celebrate the Franco-German friendship anniversary”. Current events in Europe show how important mutual exchange is for the continued existence of a peaceful and democratic Europe. Five million euros in federal funds have been made available by the German side.
Ex-President Hollande praises the ticket
Former French President François Hollande emphasized in an interview with tagesschau.dehow important this initiative is: “If we want the Franco-German friendship to continue, we have to get to know each other, even if the language remains an obstacle. We need trips like this for that.” You need more exchange between the young people to develop a feeling of togetherness: “So the ticket is a good idea.” It is important that it really reaches the young people who are disadvantaged. But if the result is that the young people who are already traveling can travel more easily through the passport, Hollande says it has missed its target.
Joint meetings, for example in the German-French town twinning, I would have “lost a bit” in recent years. Hollande would like to see Franco-German relations revitalized and hopes that the Franco-German train ticket won’t just be the end of the story: “Here, the journey is really the reward.” It’s not just about the destination itself or cheap travel. You should also have the opportunity to discover the culture at the same time. There must be something after the rail pass, for example a culture or sports pass.
A European ticket?
Because the rail pass, which is valid from July 1, is initially a one-off campaign against the background of the Franco-German friendship anniversary. According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, there could be follow-up models, such as an expansion of the 49-euro ticket. Transport Minister Volker Wissing suggested that train tickets could be recognized across borders. Germany and France could make a start and pull other European countries along.
So far this is just an idea. The disputes over the financing of the 49-euro ticket in Germany alone show how difficult it is to implement a cost-effective way of traveling by train. A “European solution” would certainly be desirable, but a Herculean task.