Owing to the proximity, tourists often explore many European countries together, especially since Eurorail provides them cheap access. On January 2, 2020, Eurorail added Latvia and Estonia to the mix, allowing people to travel to all three Baltic countries on their Global pass. This will be a first since their establishment in the Netherlands, 61 years ago. This addition will provide access to 33 European countries via rail and ferry.
People can use Pasazieru vilciens (operating in Latvia) and Elron (operating in Estonia) as hop on and hop off commute with no requirement of seat reservations. This also includes Thello day and night trains that link France and Italy. While day trains require no reservations, night trains must be reserved according to seat preference or sleeping accommodation. Additionally, international ferries travelling from Riga to Stockholm or Germany, and Tallinn to Stockholm or Riga, can be accessed with a 50% price discount.
Eurail has also worked on some more features, including an increase to 25% discount for youth passes (children under 11 can travel for free). The Rail Planner App has also been updated with a new look, fresh timetables and some additional features. Last year, Eurail celebrated its 60th anniversary with a 37% reduction in price and addition of Great Britain, Lithuania and Macedonia to their network.
According to reports, up until October 2019, 10,000 Indian travellers had used a pass in the year, said Eurail. They also mentioned that the crowd showed preference towards Western and Southern Europe. They believe that all the above mentioned features will only add to these numbers.
With inputs from IANS