Number of Interrail tickets sold hits record high this year as train travel surges in popularity

Twice as many tickets were sold this year as in 2019

The Interrail pass was created in 1972 for young people (Getty/iStockphoto)

The number of Interrail tickets sold this year has hit a record high, new figures have shown.

Around 600,000 tickets were sold in Europe over the last year, which is almost double the number of tickets sold in 2019, according to Deutsche Bahn.

Germany saw the highest number Interrail tickets purchased, selling around 142,000, followed by Switzerland at 94,000 tickets and Great Britain with 63,000.

Founded in 1972, Interrail passes give unlimited train travel on scheduled trains across Europe. Originally the pass was designed for young people to travel, but it now extends to adults, children and seniors.

Anyone who is a citizen of the participating countries can purchase an interrail pass, and in 2015 a new rule was introduced stipulating that those purchasing tickets don’t need to have lived in the participating countries for over six months as was previously the case.

A university student previously suggested on Twitter that buying an Interrail pass to travel within the UK is more cost effective than buying standard train tickets.

Figures backed up by The Independent revealed that a four-day interrail pass was cheaper than an ‘anytime return’ train ticket from London to Manchester. A four-day pass can be used on any separate four days throughout a month.

A pass for a UK citizen costs €246 (about £215) for an adult, and can be used on many British trains, including Avanti West Coast.

The news is the latest in a string of wins for train travel as air fares soar and travellers become increasingly environmentally conscious.

Recently released figures from transport magazine RAIL showed that more than half of travellers heading from London to Edinburgh are now opting to travel by rail.

Between April and August 2022, 57 per cent of travellers took the journey by train instead of flying. Before the pandemic, this figure sat at 35 per cent.