Travel Pass
EU is again giving away train tickets to young adults
Young Europeans can travel across Europe this summer with free EU train tickets. Photo
© Patrick Seeger/dpa
Traveling across Europe – without having to spend money on a train ticket. What sounds like a dream will soon be possible again for many young adults.
Tens of thousands of young Europeans will be able to Free EU train tickets to travel through Europe. As part of the “DiscoverEU” travel program, a total of 35,511 young adults from EU countries will receive a so-called travel pass, as the European Commission in Brussels announced.
The campaign has been taking place twice a year since 2018. In this round, there were more than 180,000 applicants. To win a ticket, they had to answer an online quiz with five questions about the EU and one additional question.
EU Youth Commissioner Iliana Ivanova said the application round was numerically the most successful since 2021. The ticket will allow winners to travel in Europe for up to 30 days between July 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025.
Young people from the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey were able to apply. According to the Commission, participants with disabilities or health problems will receive support on their trips. Anyone who wants a ticket now will have to be patient: the next round is expected to start in autumn. To take part, applicants must be 18 years old on the first day of the travel period.
The “DiscoverEU” initiative was launched in 2018 and was the brainchild of activists who wanted to give every EU citizen an Interrail ticket on their 18th birthday to familiarize them with the continent. Since then, more than 1.4 million young people have applied for a ticket, according to the Commission.