Eurail Group Holds Prices of Eurail Passes for 2004

Erik A. Mollen, Eurail Group’s managing director, announced last month that Eurail passes will not increase in price next year. “Our railways want Eurail Passes to provide the best possible value for money in this time of recovery,” Mr. Mollen said. “With overseas markets coming back strongly, we want to encourage still wider use of Europe’s incomparable rail network.”

Passes offered by Eurail include the classic 17-country Eurailpass series and the highly popular Selectpass available for any combination of three, four or five adjoining countries. Eurail also offers multi-passenger Saver and 2nd-class Youth versions of these passes.

Eurail Group comprises 34 railways and shipping lines, and issues all Eurail Passes for travel by train and connecting ship in 17 European countries, as well as point-to-point tickets in 26 countries. Eurail Passes are available from authorized travel agents worldwide, outside Europe. For details of where to buy, see www.eurail.com.

The Eurail Pass countries are Austria (including Liechtenstein), Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France (including Monaco), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Separately, the first half of the high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link opened last month. The new section of line will cut journey times from London to Paris and Brussels by 20 minutes.

The £1.9bn, 46-mile first section runs from the tunnel near Folkestone, to Fawkham Junction in north Kent. The gentle curves and gradients and computerized signaling mean Eurostar trains on the line will finally be able to reach their full operating speeds – 186mph.

This will make journey times to Paris and Brussels 20 minutes shorter, with Paris just two hours 35 minutes from London, and Brussels two hours 20 minutes. Pip Dunn from Rail Magazine said that would be an invaluable saving for many business travelers.

“This will bring us into the premier league of high-speed railway, and hopefully it will prove to be the springboard for future projects such as the London-Scotland high speed route,” he said.