By Siddhi Jain
New Delhi , Jan 3 (IANSlife): Allowing borderless access to 33 European countries now, the Eurail Pass will give travellers access to rail and ferry networks, including in Estonia and Latvia, Eurail has said in a statement.
Up until October 2019, over 10,000 Indian travelers used a Eurail Pass in 2019, and the trend we noticed is that there is a strong preference for Western and Southern Europe. Indian travellers now opt more Eurail Global Passes. The reasons behind that are the price deduction of the Global Pass and simplified product portfolio. From this point of view, we believe more Indian travellers are empowered by "unlimited" rail travel and travelling more kilometres/countries by rail, Eurail told IANSlife.
With the addition of Estonia and Latvia to its portfolio, it eases rail travel throughout all the Baltic countries.
While Latvian operator 'Pasazieru vilciens' offers domestic connection from Riga, Estonian railways operator ‘Elron' does so from Tallinn. In both countries, seat reservations are not required for Eurail Pass holders, and they can hop on and off on any trains operated by these operators with a valid Global Pass.
For ferries, Eurail Pass allows upto 50 per cent discount on international ferry connections from Riga to Stockholm/Germany or from Tallinn to Stockholm/Helsinki.
The comfortable Thello day and night trains linking France and Italy are also included in the Eurail Pass, it said.
Seat reservations are not required for day trains for Eurail Pass holders, who can ride any day trains operated by Thello with a valid Global Pass. For night trains, seat reservation fees apply, depending upon the type of seat or sleeping accommodation.
The Netherlands-based Eurail also said that its free Rail Planner App has updated timetables, new features, and a polished look. Children under 11 go free, and the discount for the popular youth passes has been increased to 25 percent off the standard adult fare.
Eurail or Interrail Passes (for non-European and European citizens, respectively), are available via the Eurail.com and Interrail.eu web shops, and via their distribution partners worldwide.
These changes officially came into effect at the start of 2020.