France and Germany will offer 60,000 passes to young people aged 18 to 27, so that they can travel freely on the rail network of the neighboring country, with seven days of travel offered over a period of one month.
This initiative, funded by the German government, the French state, Deutsche Bahn and SNCF, was decided during the Franco-German council of ministers in January, in order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Elysée treaty. This treaty, signed by General De Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on January 22, 1963, sealed the reconciliation of the two countries with, in particular, the creation of the Franco-German Office for Youth (OFAJ).
The pass allocation platform should open Monday, June 12 morning at 10 a.m. on the passefrancegermany.fr site, on the principle of "first come, first served", said the office of the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune. , during a presentation of the project to journalists.
Part of the passes reserved for scholarship holders and apprentices
Half of the 60,000 passes are for young French citizens and residents and the other half for young Germans. They will allow "to travel from July 1 to December 31 for a Frenchman in Germany and a German in France and to have unlimited access to the rail network", specified the cabinet.
This offer will be valid for all lines, both regional and high-speed, for one month from the first trip made. It will then allow seven days of unlimited travel.
On the French side, half of the 30,000 passes will be distributed in priority to "scholarship students, young apprentices or young people in integration (...) the idea being that young people further from Germany have access to this free and unlimited pass" , explained the cabinet of Clément Beaune.
Regarding apprentices, "the objective is to organize the distribution of these tickets to deserving apprentices or those who have won competitions of excellence within their own organizations", explained the office of Carole Grandjean, the Minister Delegate in charge of education and vocational training. About 100 tickets will, for example, be reserved for the winners of the best apprentice competition and several thousand are intended for the network of apprentice training centers (CFA).
