Rumour: Extremely Low Quota of Interrail tickets on Germany/France High-Speed Trains

[rvdborgt]

IR users which pay very, very little

Is this an assumption or do you have any data about what operators typically receive? I'm not disputing it, it's simply that I've never seen any data about it, so I can't really say anything about the level of what they receive.

 

[DeverseSam]

You mean for the TGV/ICEs France-Germany they don't work? Last time I was in France, they worked for domestic pass reservations. That was in November.

I mean for TGVs in France. I haven’t tried France-Germany but I suspect they won’t work either.

 

[RT4038]

Is this an assumption or do you have any data about what operators typically receive? I'm not disputing it, it's simply that I've never seen any data about it, so I can't really say anything about the level of what they receive.

I would think this is closely guarded commercial information. Presumably done on a formula of mileage travelled on each railway administration by those using Mobile tickets, grossed up to the entire revenue, less an administration fee by the Interrail organisation? Possibly takes into account (somehow) the general fare levels of each administration? Maybe more complicated than that?

 

[rvdborgt]

I would think this is closely guarded commercial information. Presumably done on a formula of mileage travelled on each railway administration by those using Mobile tickets, grossed up to the entire revenue, less an administration fee by the Interrail organisation? Possibly takes into account (somehow) the general fare levels of each administration? Maybe more complicated than that?

I also imagined something like that. Maybe with a provision for trains that are not in the app and have to be added manually.
But we don't know what the average milage per travel day is, for example, and what the final income per km travelled thus would be, so it's actually quite hard to say if that's low or not, compared with the average income they have from general ticket sales.

 

[RT4038]

I also imagined something like that. Maybe with a provision for trains that are not in the app and have to be added manually.
But we don't know what the average milage per travel day is, for example, and what the final income per km travelled thus would be, so it's actually quite hard to say if that's low or not, compared with the average income they have from general ticket sales.

You're right, we don't. We have our own experiences (which as enthusiasts will probably mean high mileages) and we have anecdotal evidence from our non-enthusiast acquaintances and their offspring etc.[possibly a bit more representative]. I think it is probably true to say that, in Northern Europe, it is likely that most people buying a pass will be travelling quite some distance (I have never heard of anyone in the UK buying a global pass and only visiting Belgium and Netherlands for instance), heading for sunnier climes or maybe an adventure in Eastern Europe or Scandinavia.

Presumably because of the flat fare of the global pass, people in the centre of Europe are probably less likely to buy one (unless doing multiple journeys), as ordinary tickets may well be cheaper for the more popular destinations, as it will be for people going on a relatively short journey. This will likely mean that the majority of global passes will be bought for trips where the reimbursement will be at a considerable discount to the point to point fares available for the journey. Which the long distance railway operators clearly do not like at all.

 

[trei2k]

Kind of on topic but not really, reservations are no longer available from sncf machines. The menu showing interrail still exists but it doesn’t do anything

Is anyone able to verify this?

I've used the machines frequently and they worked well. This would be a huge disappointment if it was a new development.

 

[stuu]

Perhaps the answer would be to have different types of Interrail ticket: one valid for local/regional services only, and one which is valid on everything

 

[DeverseSam]

Is anyone able to verify this?

I've used the machines frequently and they worked well. This would be a huge disappointment if it was a new development.

On the Interrailing facebook group, others have said the same unfortunately

 

[trei2k]

On the Interrailing facebook group, others have said the same unfortunately

That is such a shame. The SNCF ticket machines were actually excellent for making Interrail reservations.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Seemed to be OK three weeks ago in Annemasse but we are talking France here, anything is possible!

 

[306024]

Is anyone able to verify this?

I've used the machines frequently and they worked well. This would be a huge disappointment if it was a new development.

I just tried to get a reservation from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand for next month using the ticket machine at Lille Europe. The interrail option is available, but it doesn't apply any discount, still wants to charge the full fare.

Very helpful booking clerk in the ticket office sold me the reservation, but she didn't know why the machine wouldn't.