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Traveling by train: raffle instead of ticket for everyone
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Learning more about Europe through travel: The European Commission is giving away 35,000 train tickets to 18-year-old Europeans to promote cultural exchange.
Young adults born in 2004 can apply from October 11 to 25, 12 noon, as the commission announced on Monday.
All citizens of the countries participating in the Erasmus+ program, i.e. from the EU countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey, can take part.
If you want to have the chance of a free ticket, you first have to answer six quiz questions.
Promoting cultural exchange through sustainable travel
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Youth, said "promoting cultural exchange through sustainable travel could not be more timely." The DiscoverEU program offers young people the enriching experience of traveling the continent, discovering cultures and making friends.
The tickets are said to be valid for 30 days between March 1, 2023 and February 29, 2024.
Those who will not come of age until next year can take part in the next raffle in the first half of 2023.
In a first round, 35,000 tickets have already been given away this year, compared to a total of 60,000 last year.
The program has been around since 2018. It goes back to an idea by activists to give every EU citizen an Interrail ticket for their 18th birthday and thus familiarize them with the continent and its cultures.
sun/dpa
