Proving it is impossible to please everybody, Allrail – the European association of independent rail operators – is complaining that Portugal’s new €20 rail pass will “cannibalise the European Union’s single rail market” and all attempts to “open up the long-distance rail passenger transport market” to private companies and investors.
According to the association, the cases of other EU member states “from Sweden to Czechia” show that “subsidies are not necessary to lower prices” since “this is the result of market liberalisation”. Thus Allrail is said to be calling on political decision makers to intervene and ensure “fair competition”, says Lusa.
Calling the rail pass that will improve thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of lives “ridiculously cheap”, it is not clear from All Rail’s press release which political decision makers it is referring to – potentially it is trying to get European decision makers to intervene. Its statement on Portugal’s rail pass ends: “The new €20 rail pass must not be the ticket to a permanent CP monopoly”.
