Vocal Voices

Yesterday the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) announced that it would be pulling out of the Interrail and Eurail pass schemes. The news went down like a lead balloon so people took to social media to complain.

Today the RDG reversed its decision. A win for the people

Down the years these passes have allowed 100,000's of mainly young people / students to travel by rail throughout Europe on one pre-paid ticket. They were almost a right of passage ticket for those who wanted to get away from the Champs-Élysées, Oxford Street, Cannes or Benidorm brigades - though you could still use them to go there. They were a boon for backpackers who wanted to get off the beaten track and see the real Europe. It is good news that we still have them.

It is

Is it ?

I think the operative word in your 'Subject', Frank, was "can" ….. I might have used "occassionally" in there, though!

I'm mildly surprised that Interrail/Eurail pass got reprieved, though. I would have thought it would have fallen foul of the EU's transport regulations given Brexit.

AliasAggers wrote:Is it ?

Yes, it IS good news that Interrail changed their minds. It's a wonderful opportunity for young people to travel at low cost.

Kaz wrote:Yes, it IS good news that Interrail changed their minds. It's a wonderful opportunity for young people to travel at low cost.

I agree Kaz, it is a wonderful opportunity. However it will be on Dutch terms not British terms and the British offering they had been developing to cover people from outside of the EU as well as inside the EU will have to be scrapped in favour of a scheme which only favours those inside the EU.

If that is the price, I'd go with the original decision and withdraw.

There are many things not worth the price of capitulation. I believe this is one of them.

Social media is a powerful tool and has very good ability to influence. The problem is that most of the influencers have no real interest in the issue at hand. Just the fact that they might not get as easy a life as they might want.