France’s Youth Rail Pass, a €49-per-month summer scheme offering near-unlimited rail travel for 16 to 27-year-olds, will not return in 2025, the Ministry of Transport has confirmed. The programme, launched in July and August of last year, allowed travel on regional TER and Intercité lines but excluded high-speed TGV services.
The Ministry described the initiative as “a joint experiment between the state and the regions, which was not extended this year,” BFMTV reported. Officials cited weak demand and financial constraints: “The final result is mixed, with only a third of tickets sold compared to forecasts,” the Ministry said. “The current budgetary context does not allow for the continuation of an experiment of this type, which is not reaching its target.”
Only 235,000 passes were sold in 2024, falling far short of the 700,000 expected. The state covered 80 percent of the programme’s 15 million euro cost, with the remainder shouldered by regions – some of which initially resisted the scheme before ultimately signing on. Île-de-France declined to participate entirely with the Youth Rail Pass, pointing to its own €86.40 Navigo pass.
The Ministry added: “Other, more structural transformations must be implemented: expanding the offering and improving the quality of service.” It also stressed that regions remain free to implement their own youth pricing schemes, “and many already do.”
Rising ridership, so where’s the enthusiasm?
The decision to cancel the pass stands in stark contrast to the growing popularity of regional rail in France. According to the Transport Regulatory Authority (ART), passenger numbers on TER and Intercités services rose by 21 percent in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, that growth has not been uniform – and may not have translated into benefits for the young travellers the pass was meant to serve.
While some regions like Brittany and Pays de la Loire have expanded services and reported record ridership, others continue to grapple with infrequent or unreliable service. For young people in peri-urban or rural areas, the Rail Pass may have offered little practical value, particularly on weekends or when travelling across regions with poor interconnectivity.
Limits of the Youth Rail Pass
In many ways, the pass’s limitations were structural. Excluding TGV services may have been justifiable from a cost-control perspective, but the pass also failed to integrate with urban public transport systems such as buses, trams, and metro networks. Travellers frequently had to purchase additional tickets to move within cities or transfer between stations. In Île-de-France, for instance, users faced extra charges for the RER and Transilien lines – undermining the scheme’s affordability and simplicity.
It’s also true, as the Ministry pointed out, that many regions already offer discounted fares for young people. In Occitanie, the “+ = 0” programme allows 12 to 26-year-olds to travel for free on liO trains and buses after 11 journeys in a month, while the “LibertiO’ Jeunes” plan offers a 50 percent discount on all regional trips for those under 27. In Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the “Billet Jeunes” provides up to 50 percent off TER fares for travellers under 28, and the “Pass Abonné -28” offers unlimited travel on selected routes, with seasonal perks during the summer months. Why then would you buy a Youth Rail Pass?
A missed chance for long-term modal shift?
Despite regional alternatives and political pushback from Île-de-France, it’s arguable that a single summer trial was too short a window to fairly assess the scheme’s potential to reshape mobility habits. French rail think tank Voyager en Train called the 235,000 passes sold “a success,” pointing out the programme’s late rollout and the original target of 700,000 as being “far too ambitious.”
And perhaps the concept wasn’t far-reaching enough from the start. While there have been financial issues with the programme, the new German government has fully long-term investment in the widely popular Deutschlandticket, a €58/month pass valid on all regional and local public transport, regardless of age. France’s Youth Pass in contrast, limited by age and time, offered neither the universality nor the continuity needed to establish it as a long-term habit-forming tool.
Indeed, maybe a more comprehensive approach is needed for France. A truly national, integrated pass might prove more cost-efficient in the long run, going a long way to reinforce public transport as a viable alternative to cars, especially for younger generations. That was, after all, the point of the exercise.
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