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UK TOCs to no longer accept Interrail passes from 2020 (decision now reversed)

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30907

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Mod note: The first four posts in this discussion have been split from this thread in International Transport.

A tip from a colleague, which I will take advantage of in the autumn:

If you live a fair way from London, an Interrail 3 days in a month plus ES passholder fares is a very economical way to do a straightforward return trip to most of Germany, because you can take full advantage of the first and last days' travel in the UK.
I checked this out for Shipley-London-Brussels-Erfurt this autumn, and it's significantly cheaper than the London Special plus peak-time Advances, and also than using London International CIV fares.
I imagine this is also effective via Paris, though you've got the complication of TGV supplements there.
 
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superalbs

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A tip from a colleague, which I will take advantage of in the autumn:

If you live a fair way from London, an Interrail 3 days in a month plus ES passholder fares is a very economical way to do a straightforward return trip to most of Germany, because you can take full advantage of the first and last days' travel in the UK.
I checked this out for Shipley-London-Brussels-Erfurt this autumn, and it's significantly cheaper than the London Special plus peak-time Advances, and also than using London International CIV fares.
I imagine this is also effective via Paris, though you've got the complication of TGV supplements there.
Not for long, idiotic UK railway companies have chosen to not accept interrail from 2020.
 

Quakkerillo

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I've used this ticket many times. Without it, I'd not have been able to visit all over the UK. Been between margate and Mallaig, Aberdeen and Penzance, Inverness and Ipswich, Whitby and Barrow-in-Furness, Scarborough and Holyhead, Shanklin and Sheffield.
Loads of places where I've had great times and spent my money. Without it, I'd only have come to London, and not spent as much time and money in the UK.
It's going to be quite backwards, and a bit isolated, with less tourists coming in, and less Brits able to use it to explore the rest of Europe.
 
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LeeLivery

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£796 for an All Line Rover instead. What a bargain :rolleyes:

Edit:

The RDG have just published a statement
https://twitter.com/RailDeliveryGrp/status/1159052759653634048

Interrail update: The Eurail group has decided to end our membership from 1 January 2020, despite us wanting to remain part of the group. This is not linked to our membership of the EU.

"Although the EUrail Group have ended our decades-long membership of Interrail since we stopped trailling Eurail passes, British people will feel no difference - they can still buy an Interrail pass, get the Eurostar and travel by train across Europe"

Doesn't say why the membership has been ended.
 
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Roast Veg

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Will this mean the end of Interrail for UK residents in response? I was hoping to do an Interrail in about a year's time, and this would really damage my long term plans.
 

theironroad

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Will this mean the end of Interrail for UK residents in response? I was hoping to do an Interrail in about a year's time, and this would really damage my long term plans.

Did you read post #7? Especially the quote box from the RDG.....
 

Mike395

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Reading between the lines of RDG's response (linked in post #7), it looks like they've decided to stop our membership of Interrail due to our refusal to accept Eurail passes previously. So nothing to do with Brexit, ultimately it's the RDG's previous actions that have lead to this decision, so I have little sympathy for them.
 

ainsworth74

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This isn't a thread to talk about Brexit it's a thread to talk about the end of Interrail acceptance in the UK. Any further discussion of Brexit that is not clearly and directly linked to Interrail will be deleted without warning.
 

jamesontheroad

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More from Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/british-train-companies-quit-interrail/

This is a phenomenally stupid decision. It will have huge consequences for Britain’s attractiveness as a destination for all kinds of tourists. InterRailers are not just low-income / low-spend backpackers; we’ve witnessed a huge growth in environmentally conscious middle-income families using InterRail passes. This is just another nail in the coffin of an open and welcoming Britain.
 

yorkie

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Does "British people will feel no difference" mean we can still use InterRail passes for a journey from any station in Britain to the relevant port on the first day of validity, and back from the relevant port to any station in Britain on the last day of validity?
More from Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/british-train-companies-quit-interrail/

This is a phenomenally stupid decision. It will have huge consequences for Britain’s attractiveness as a destination for all kinds of tourists. InterRailers are not just low-income / low-spend backpackers; we’ve witnessed a huge growth in environmentally conscious middle-income families using InterRail passes. This is just another nail in the coffin of an open and welcoming Britain.
RDG and train companies like Virgin Trains (and some others, but not all) dislike flexible tickets, good value prices and attracting people to rail.

It's all about adding restrictions, yield management techniques and market based pricing, forcing people to book specific trains, and reducing people's rights and flexibilities.

This decision is consistent with their policies. They cannot be trusted to ever have the interests of passengers at heart.
 

sprunt

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Can someone do a brief explanation of what the Eurrail pass is, and (if known) why the RDG didn't sign up to it?
 

YorkshireBear

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We are pathetic we really are. What possible benefit is there to this?

Did we stop accepting Eurorail passess and only accepted Interrail passes? And hence we have been kicked out.

Again what a joke we are, this is actually anger inducing stupidity.
 

YorkshireBear

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Does "British people will feel no difference" mean we can still use InterRail passes for a journey from any station in Britain to the relevant port on the first day of validity, and back from the relevant port to any station in Britain on the last day of validity?

I read it as not, especially via that link. Which says ferry companies and eurostar will continue but our operators will not.
 

cuccir

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Can someone do a brief explanation of what the Eurail pass is, and (if known) why the RDG didn't sign up to it?

Eurail passes are effectively an Interrail pass for non-European citizens, that is, from people outside the Interrail region. A 22 day adult Interrail pass normally costs €518 (they are actually currently €466 as part of a promotion) while a Eurrail pass is US$603, around €540, so (presuming British citizens become eligible to buy Eurail passes) it represents a price increase for British travellers. And more pertinently, a loss of business for the whole tourist industry as Interrailers/Eurailers no longer visit the UK.
 

blackfive460

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I think part of the reason may be that some train companies are seeing in increase in UK residents using short term global passes as a cheaper alternative to flexible fares.
Comparing fares, a 3 day in 1 month global pass costs around £150 while an off peak return from Edinburgh to London is £238. I rather doubt that LNER will get very much in the way of revenue from Interrail so it's hardly surprising that they and no doubt other TOCs will be happy to come out of the scheme.
 

BigCj34

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While whether Interrail is good value or not as a whole is very debatable, it certainly was very good value for a passholder coming to Britain. When I went with a friend he probably saved £70 taking the Flying Scotsman service to London to connect to the Eurostar for Brussels, rather than flying with his hold luggage.

This is just as much about the principle though, it's a great European brand and even if someone doesn't necessarily buy the pass it invokes the conversation of rail-tripping around Europe in an environmentally friendly way, where British travellers are one of the biggest subscribers. Having Eurostar take part was a boon to the scheme but now this is a backwards step. Just how much money is the RDG going to save anyway, or are they planning to milk tourists who won't understand our complex ticketing system by charging well over the odds for tickets?

Didn't the RDG massively hike the price of the Rail Rover because a member of the Royal Family said it was good value for money?
 

Ianno87

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Didn't the RDG massively hike the price of the Rail Rover because a member of the Royal Family said it was good value for money?

Lord Adonis used one (when he was Transport Secretary), so rather than enjoy the free publicity for the most expensive leisure ticket on offer, exceeding £1,000 in revenue, RDG (or whoever at the time)'s response was to whack a load of (fairly easily get round-able) peak time restrictions on it...
 

Jan

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I rather doubt that LNER will get very much in the way of revenue from Interrail
Isn't that why you're supposed to fill in that travel diary and return it at the end of you pass's validity so they can split the revenue from the pass according to your actual usage?
 

trei2k

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The BBC now have an article up:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49263781

The UK's decades-long membership of the Interrail scheme, which allows people to travel around Europe on a single train ticket, is to end. From January 2020, UK rail journeys will no longer be covered by either the Interrail or Eurail passes, said Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents UK train operators. It means ticketholders will have to buy separate tickets to get around Britain.

RDG blamed a dispute with Eurail Group which manages the Interrail scheme. But many on Twitter reacted angrily, warning it would put off visitors from travelling beyond London.

Launched in 1972, the Interrail pass enables European citizens to travel around 31 countries by train and ferry, while the older Eurail pass lets non-European citizens to do the same. Over the decades it has been a rite of passage for millions of mostly young tourists, although older people use the passes too.

RDG stressed British people would still be able to buy Interrail tickets and that the move had "no relation" to Brexit. It also said Eurostar trains would not be affected by the decision, which means passholders will be able to travel from Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam to London and vice versa.

However, travel outside of Eurostar's terminals in London and the South East will require a separate ticket, affecting both UK and non-UK citizens. Currently, if a Briton buys an Interrail pass it includes a train to get them from home to the Eurostar and back again at the end. RDG said the dispute stemmed from a decision by Eurail Group, a Dutch organisation, to merge its two passes into one. RDG said the new pass would clash with its own Britrail pass, also aimed at non-European citizens, which covers UK rail travel and offers discounts on local tourist attractions. It added that Eurail decided to end its membership of Interrail/ Eurail after RDG declined to sell the new product.
RDG regional director Robert Nisbet said: "The rail industry boosts British tourism and, working together, rail companies are offering the best option for tourists with BritRail, which is recommended by Visit Britain [the UK's official tourism promotion agency]."

Eurail said that all Interrail and Eurail passes purchased before 31 December 2019 were still valid for travelling on UK trains until the end of their validity period.

But it added: "As a consequence of RDG not being part of Eurail and Interrail, travellers who buy a Eurail or Interrail Global Pass in 2020 will no longer be able to travel in Great Britain."

RDG said that it wanted to work with Eurail Group to develop an offer for tourists who want to buy the Eurail and Britrail passes together.

The key point appears to be:
RDG said the dispute stemmed from a decision by Eurail Group, a Dutch organisation, to merge its two passes into one. RDG said the new pass would clash with its own Britrail pass, also aimed at non-European citizens, which covers UK rail travel and offers discounts on local tourist attractions. It added that Eurail decided to end its membership of Interrail/ Eurail after RDG declined to sell the new product.
 

pdeaves

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Isn't that why you're supposed to fill in that travel diary and return it at the end of you pass's validity so they can split the revenue from the pass according to your actual usage?
I think (but may be wrong) that the diary information is purely for market research rather than revenue apportionment.
 

Taunton

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Has the Rail Delivery Group ever done a single thing that was useful? Even their TV "spokesman" comes over normally as a complete waffler.
 

Flying Snail

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Pretty poor excuse in my eyes, still maintain this is an unforgivable stance. Not affected any other Country, so I don't understand why it has affected us? What do we do different with our Britrail Pass that means we can no longer be a member?

For people only wanting a one-country pass the difference between a GB Interrail/Eurail and Britrail is minimal, at the moment.

The cynic in me assumes that their reasoning is that with both products being available RDG are unable to hike the price of Britrail because shoppers and travel agents would just have directed clients to Interrail/Eurail instead. Now they are free to price gouge as much as they think they can get away with.
 

paddington

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Looking into the different types of passes - I now understand that Interrail and Eurail are the same thing but just sold at different prices, with Interrail being about 30% cheaper than Eurail.

The Global Pass is not valid in the EU member countries Estonia and Latvia, and Cyprus and Malta which have no rail services. It appears that Great Britain will now be added to this list (Northern Ireland will remain included).

The pass is valid in non-EU countries Bosnia/Herzegovina, (North) Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland (possibly including the line through Liechtenstein?) and Turkey.

Citizens and/or residents of all European countries are eligible for the cheaper Interrail pass, including all EU countries, the non-EU member countries where passes are valid, as well as Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Iceland, Kosovo, Moldova, Monaco, Russia, San Marino, Ukraine and the Vatican - even though the pass is not valid on trains in some of these countries.

It appears that UK citizens/residents will remain eligible to purchase the cheaper version - but will now need to buy a separate ticket to get to St Pancras if they wish to begin using the pass on the Eurostar, whereas currently a return journey to a border station is included.
 

Roast Veg

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Does "British people will feel no difference" mean we can still use InterRail passes for a journey from any station in Britain to the relevant port on the first day of validity, and back from the relevant port to any station in Britain on the last day of validity?
According to the BBC article, this will also no longer be acceptable. Outright lies from the RDG, now my holiday plans will be significantly more expensive since I will need to buy two singles either side of a trip >1 month long.
 

southernyoshi

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While not in any way defending the monumental, jaw-dropping stupidity & greed of this decision, it does sound like we Brits will still be able to buy & use the range of Interrail passes on the continent after next year, although sadly without the free trip to the border, which was obviously the problem (unless I’m missing something).

Still utterly unforgivable though - it’ll be a disaster for destinations outside London, & what kind of country actively discourages visitors while its currency is collapsing?! The RDG really are about as good for the railway as Gr*yl*ng was :{
 
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