Eurail Pass Sales Challenged by Economic Downturn

UTRECHT, Netherlands - The Eurail Group G.I.E. has reported a modest drop in Eurail Pass
passengers triggered by the global economic downturn, but expects a full
recovery in the coming years.

The Eurail Group’s passes offer flexible travel throughout Europe to
overseas visitors. With a total of just over 433,000 customers, passenger
numbers in 2008 were down by 7.5% in comparison to 2007.

“We are not experiencing an unwillingness to travel, rather a decline in
travel due to people having to prioritize their budgets. For many, holidays
abroad need to be put on hold. Once the market picks up, we expect sales to
grow again,” explained Ana Dias e Seixas, the Eurail Group’s Marketing
Director.

“The Eurail Group and its authorized general sales agents foresee that
passenger numbers will continue to fall in the immediate future.
Subsequently, we’re concentrating on offering additional customer benefits to
make the product more attractive, so we’re ready when the travel market
recovers and people start taking trips abroad again. We expect a modest
performance in 2009, but everything depends on the evolving economic
situation.”

North America is the biggest market (50% of the market share), followed
by the Asia-Pacific region (38%), which explains the challenging times Eurail
Passes currently face. Signs of the weakening world economy are especially
prevalent in the United States as well as in South Korea. However, several of
the key markets are still showing considerable growth. Sales from Japan,
Australia, and Canada were up by between 4 and 8%. A special global promotion
launched during the fourth quarter of 2008 helped generate additional sales.

Whilst most customers (around 57%) still wish to discover as much of
Europe as possible, opting for a pass covering 3 to 5 connecting countries,
or the classic Eurail Global Pass, which covers 21 countries, it’s clear that
times are changing. Launched in 2006, the relatively new Eurail One Country
Pass range has become an important product line for Eurail with market trends
favoring shorter trips to fewer destinations. Sales of this product are up by
14%.

Traditional western European destinations such as France, Italy,
Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Benelux region remain favorites for
visitors - however, there is also an increased interest in discovering
Eastern Europe. Consequently, the Czech Republic was introduced in the Global
and Select Pass schemes this year, and Bulgaria became a One Country Pass
member.

The Eurail Group considers climate change a serious issue and believes
that passes can be used as a tool to stimulate environmentally friendly
travel. Rail travel also has many other benefits: not only are trains safe,
convenient and efficient, a well-planned trip can be very cost effective with
one pass being used to visit multiple destinations across the whole of
Europe. With today’s modern high-speed connections, journey times are
surprisingly quick. A direct train ride from Berlin to Munich covering 410
miles takes under six hours; from Copenhagen to Stockholm, you can travel 400
miles in just over five hours; and Paris to Bordeaux (a 350-mile journey)
takes a mere three hours.

The Eurail Group offers a range of rail passes to suit all itineraries.
Eurail Passes are available from the following authorized sales channels: ACP
Rail International (www.eurail-acprail.com); Eurail
(www.eurail.com); Flight Centre (www.flightcentre.com); Octopus
Travel (www.OctopusTravel.com); Rail Europe (North America:
www.raileurope.com, rest of the world: www.raileurope.fr), and
STA Travel (www.statravel.com).

For more information:

Eurail Group corporate website and press room: www.eurailgroup.com

Eurail photo library: eurail.informationstore.net/

Source: Eurail Group G.I.E.

Press Contacts: Ana Dias e Seixas & Rachel Morton-Young, email: Pressinfo at eurail.nl, tel: +31(0)30-7516-500