The Eurail Group G.I.E. is a Netherlands-based company, registered in Luxembourg, that sells passes and tickets for European railroads to residents of Europe and other countries. It is owned by a group of European rail carriers and shipping companies. Its principal products are Eurail passes and InterRail passes, with which a passenger has largely unlimited ability to travel on nearly all European railroads and some shipping lines at a fixed price per day of travel. Eurail sells a variety of passes, including those specific to two to five bordering countries, discounted passes for groups of up to five people travelling together, or for those under 26, passes which provide unlimited travel in a fixed period, and passes which provide a fixed number of days of travel in a longer period. A pass will generally grant a passenger free transportation on an ordinary train (for example, EuroCity trains). Special trains like the TGV, InterCityExpress, Thalys, Eurostar, and night trains (with sleeping compartments) usually require a small supplement. The Eurail pass was formerly known as Europass. The traditional Eurail pass covers 18 countries, as of 2006: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Other passes, such as the Eurail Selectpass, allow one to select a series of bordering countries. For fare calculation purposes, some regions count as one country: Benelux, Slovenia-Croatia, and Serbia-Montenegro-Bulgaria. Eurail passes can only be purchased by non-European residents. Residents of Turkey and the Commonwealth of Independent States are also ineligible to buy them. It is possible for non-Europeans to obtain passes in Europe, although they are cheaper and easier to procure outside.
See also
- Eurail on Wikitravel
- Transportation in Europe
- InterRail
- Indrail Pass - a similar railway ticket for travel on Indian Railways
