The French ticket aims to wean commuters off carbon-intensive forms of transport, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday. It comes shortly after the country banned short-haul flights for journeys that are possible in less than two-and-a-half hours by train.
“The crux of the battle is to get out of coal and out of oil,” he explained.
Other European rail passes have had a positive environmental impact.
The €49 German ticket was a successor to the €9-per-month ticket trialled last summer. This ultra-cheap pass was introduced to combat rising inflation after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
With more than 52 million tickets sold, the pass has helped reduce carbon emissions from traffic. German transport association VDV claims that it saved around 1.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions during June, July, and August this year.
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