UTRECHT, Netherlands -- European railways consortium the Eurail
Group here is expanding the geographic scope of its Eurail
Selectpass multicountry railpass product and will discontinue the
now-redundant Europass in 2003.
Introduced last year, Eurail Selectpasses currently are valid
for unlimited train travel in any three -- out of 17 --
participating European nations joined by rail or ship; the new,
upgraded pass will be good for any four or five countries.
The expanded Eurail Selectpass will be offered for five, six,
eight, or 10 days in a two-month period; with a five-country pass,
a 15-day option also will be offered.
The similar Europass was good for unlimited rail travel in
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland, with supplements for
travel in up to two associate countries or regions.
"More overseas visitors have become experienced in traveling
Europe, and now want to explore parts of Europe in more detail,"
said Erik Mollen, managing director of Eurail Group, in a
statement.
"With this new offer, Eurail is responding to the growing demand
for rail passes to suit this travel pattern."
Countries participating in the Eurail Selectpass program are
Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and
the Benelux grouping of Belgium, Luxembourg and the
Netherlands.
Under Selectpass, Monaco is considered part of France, and
Liechtenstein, part of Austria.
More information on the expanded Eurail Selectpass program
should become available at Eurail's www.eurail.com Web site in September.
The primary distributors of Eurail Group product in the U.S. are
CIT North America, New York; Destination Europe Resources (DER),
Rosemont, Ill., and Rail Europe, White Plains, N.Y.