EU launches competition for free interrail tickets for young people

Are you an EU national aged between 18 and 20 who loves to travel? Then you might want to take a look at the competition launched by the European Commission which could see you win up to a month of free train travel across Europe! 

60.000 free Interrail tickets up for grabs

The competition, which opened at midday on Tuesday, October 12 and continues through to Tuesday, October 26, will see 60.000 young people - 2.036 of which will be Dutch - granted free access to European rail services. In order to be eligible to apply, entrants must be born between July 1, 2001 and January 1, 2004 and hold EU nationality.

To enter the competition, applicants will need to participate in a quiz with questions about the EU on the DiscoverEU website, and can apply on their own or as part of a group, if they wish to travel with friends. Those selected as one of the lucky winners will receive an Interrail pass that allows for up to 30 days of travel between March 1, 2022 and February 28, 2023.

The European Commission hopes the initiative will provide valuable travel opportunities to young people who missed out on formative experiences during the pandemic. 

DiscoverEU initiative relaunches following COVID-19 pandemic

Since it was launched in 2018, the DiscoverEU initiative - which seeks to provide travel and mobility opportunities to young people reaching legal adulthood at the age of 18 - has given away 70.000 Interrail passes. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the initiative had to be suspended in 2020. 

This year it will launch again. Although it is usually only open to 18-year-olds, young people aged 19 and 20 will also be allowed to apply, since they missed out on their chance last year. The competition will also be open to applicants from the United Kingdom for the final time after Brexit. 

In 2018 and 2019, over 350.000 young Europeans applied for the 70.000 Interrail tickets. 66 percent of participants said the ticket would allow them to travel abroad by train for the first time, while two-thirds also said they would not be able to finance the travel themselves.