Rail pass

Rail pass is a pass that covers the cost of train travel in certain designated area within a certain period of time. It is contrasted to point-to-point ticket that it allows the holder unlimited travel within the pre-designated area and period while point-to-point ticket only permits the holder to travel from a point to another once. It is different from season ticket in the sense that while both of them grant unlimited travels to the holder, season tickets normally target commuting travellers, whereas rail passes usually target tourists. Based on this difference, terms of use are thus normally set differently.

The first rail pass was issued as the Eurail pass in March 1959. Owing to its success, lots of other passes have been issued by various railway companies all around the world since then.

Type of rail pass

Rail passes are issued according to different terms of use.

Continuous pass and Flexipass

There are two ways counting the valid period of a rail pass. A continuous pass counts the days or months continuously. For example, a 15-day pass is valid for 15 continuous calendar days starting from the day of validation and a one-month pass is valid for a calendar month (so if it is used in February, it is valid only for 28/29 days, contrasted to the 30-day valid period when using a 30-day pass).