Eurail data shows Australia continues to dominate as its second largest market globally as over 52,000 Aussies traversed Europe by using a flexible Eurail pass.
Releasing the company’s 2025 data and insights, Jody Bauer, Senior Research Analyst at Eurail, highlighted the strength of the Australian market.
“Australians remain hugely important travellers for Eurail, and the 2025 full-year data reveals some compelling trends,” Bauer said. “Despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures at home, Australian Youth travellers (aged 12-27) led the way, accounting for 40 per cent of all Australian Passholders last year. In fact, the proportion of Australian Youth travellers using a Eurail Pass has risen from 32 per cent pre-COVID (2019) to 40 per cent in 2025. They were followed by Adults (28-59) at 38 per cent, Seniors (60+) at 19 per cent, and Children (4-11) at 4 per cent.”
With discounts offered for Youth, Senior and Child Passes, and children under 4 travelling for free, it is clear that Australian travellers are drawn to the price competitiveness of the Eurail Pass.
“One of the reasons why Australians are so important for Eurail, and European tourism in general, is their longer length of stay and their curiosity to explore different parts of the continent,” Bauer added. “The most popular Eurail Pass category for Australian travellers in 2025 was the ’10 Days within 2 Months’ Global Pass, which gives travellers the option to choose ten different rail travel days within a selected two-month period.”
Recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics data has shown a surge in Aussies travelling to Portugal, France, and Spain in 2025 (vs 2024), while travel to the UK and Italy continues to dominate. With all of these countries being included in Eurail’s 33 country Pass network, Bauer pointed out that according to Eurail’s own 2025 data.
“The most popular city destinations visited by Australian Eurail Passholders last year were Milan, Zurich, Rome, Florence, and Amsterdam, while the most popular countries visited were Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK,” Bauer said.
Now in its 67th year, Eurail, which enables borderless rail travel across 33 different European countries, spanning more than 30,000 destinations, is also pleased to announce a few recent additions to its Pass network.
New train routes
- New direct Baltics connection: A new direct connection between Riga in Latvia and Tallinn in Estonia has opened (as of 12 January 2026) and bypasses the previous requirement to transfer in Valga (Estonia). Meanwhile, DB/PKP IC services between Poland and the Baltics have also improved following the opening of new lines to Poznan and Szczecin in Poland – all part of ongoing works to improve cross-border connections between Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, and Germany.
- Increased frequency between Vienna (Austria) and Zagreb (Croatia): The newly opened Koralm railway line in Austria (since December 2025) has reconfigured and vastly improved rail travel across Austria, north-eastern Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. This has also seen OBB/HZPP reinstate direct EC trains between Munich (Germany) and Zagreb, via Vienna, as well as the addition of a new direct Railjet service from Vienna to Trieste (Italy).
More options for Eurail passholders
- New exciting European night train routes: Starting 26 March 2026, European Sleeper will commence a new route between Paris (France) and Berlin (Germany), stopping at Brussels (Belgium) and Aachen (Germany). Furthermore, come 9 September 2026, European Sleeper will also launch night train services from Brussels to Milan (Italy), with a new Amsterdam (Netherlands) to Milan service expected in 2027.
- New routes from Prague: Following recent expansion in Poland by Regiojet, competitor Leo Express is now offering direct services from Prague (Czech Republic) to Warsaw (Poland) as of 1 March 2026, and to Bratislava (Slovakia) from 30 April 2026 onwards, while CD/DSB will commence direct Comfortjet services between Prague and Copenhagen (Denmark) from mid-year.
15 per cent off sale
These latest announcements come as Eurail launches its latest sale, offering 15 per cent off all Eurail Global Passes and One Country Passes (in both 1st and 2nd class travel). New Zealand travel agents are encouraged to take advantage of the sale, which runs from Tuesday 11 March 2026 until Tuesday 31 March 2026.
Purchasers of Eurail Passes have an 11-month window to activate their Pass for travel, from date of issue. Further discounts apply for Senior travellers (aged 60+) and Youth travellers (aged 12-27), while up to two Child travellers (aged 4-11) can travel for free.
Travel agents can purchase Eurail Passes in Australia from Rail Europe and International Rail.
