Emmanuel Macron's promise will not see the light of day straight away.
The Minister of Transport Patrice Vergriete affirmed this Monday morning on France Bleu Nord that the “Rail Pass” – whose initial objective was to allow everyone to travel on the rails everywhere in France with a single subscription – will “perhaps » implemented “from this summer” and “targeted at young people”.
“The goal of the game is to be as concrete as possible and to help our young people,” he added without specifying the amount of the subscription.
His predecessor Clément Beaune mentioned last September an “attractive” price of around “49 euros”.
Originally, Clément Beaune had promised the implementation of this “Rail Pass” for TER and Intercités before this summer.
But “the regions wish to move forward cautiously because this has a significant cost”, specified Patrice Vergriete who “hopes” that they “will give their agreement for this summer”.
The Minister of Transport also recalled that responsibility for TER fell to the regions.
“The idea is to have a national rate.
This is why we need consultation with all the regions of France,” insisted Patrice Vergriete.
“Our goal is to prepare things well”
For him, the French “Pass rail” – inspired by the German model in place since 2023 – must take into account “our specificities”.
“We must learn lessons from what did not work in Germany,” said Patrice Vergriete, pointing in particular to a “demand [which] has exploded”, without supply following suit.
“There were crowded trains and difficulties (…) Our goal is to prepare things well while also taking into account economic considerations.
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Also read: A French “Rail Pass” for unlimited train travel?
It's far from won
Patrice Vergriete had already stated that the “Rail Pass” would initially be targeted at young people on March 6, during an interview on Public Senate.
He assured that he wanted to propose this idea to the president of the association of regions of France Carole Delga.
The Minister of Transport @P_Vergriete suggests experimenting with a rail pass to benefit from a “reduced rate on the entire Intercités and TER network”.
In agreement with the regions, the system could come into force "as early as this summer", for young people up to 27 years old. #QAG pic.twitter.com/WfAGIF22K6
— Public Senate (@publicsenat) March 6, 2024
“It would be a sort of social pricing for young people to allow them to discover all the regions of our beautiful country,” Patrice Vergriete also detailed that same day during a question session with the government at the Senate.