After half a century, Britain exits Interrail

FOR almost 50 years the Inter- rail scheme has served as a rite of passage for teenagers and young people, allowing them to travel around Europe on a single ticket.

But now Britain is to end its membership of the scheme, after a dispute with the Eurail Group which runs it.

The Rail Delivery Group [RDG], which represents Britain’s railways, confirmed domestic train companies will no longer be part of the Interrail and Eurail schemes, which allow tourists to travel across Europe on a single pass.

A spokesman for RDG said the decision was nothing to do with Brexit, but acknowledged that the timing was ‘unfortunate’.

Britain has been part of Interrail since its launch in 1972 and began a trial of new Eurail passes, for non-European tourists, in January.

But after the trial, the RDG decided to stick with its own ‘Britrail’ pass for those travelling to the UK from outside Europe, which includes twofor-one deals on attractions across the country.

The Eurail Group subsequently ended Britain’s association with its Interrail and Eurail schemes as it intends to merge the passes.

The move has prompted fears that tourism in cities outside of London could be affected. Labour transport spokesman Andy McDonald said the RDG had been ‘deeply irresponsible’ over the decision.

Eurostar trains are not affected and Britons travelling to Europe on an Interrail ticket are unlikely to suffer. However, they will now have to cover the cost of rail travel to London before boarding a train to the continent.