News at 9: Germany to relaunch mega-cheap travel pass, New sleeper train to link Amsterdam and Barcelona

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News at 9: Germany to relaunch mega-cheap travel pass, New sleeper train to link Amsterdam and Barcelona

Germany is relaunching its mega-cheap travel pass, A brand-new sleeper train could soon link Amsterdam and Barcelona, Hong Kong will pay for your plane ticket to visit in 2023 and more in top stories of the day.

Germany is relaunching its mega-cheap travel pass

Last year, German public transport users were the envy of pretty much everyone, everywhere. In order to promote sustainable travel and help out with the cost of living crisis, Germany introduced monthly tickets for near-unlimited public transport usage that cost just €9 (£7.86, £8.80)! Mental stuff, we know.

That scheme ended in August but in the months since, Germany has been working on a follow-up. And that successor has now been announced: this year, regional transport across Germany will cost just €49 (£43, $48) per month. The new pass is expected to have similar criteria to the €9 ticket in that it’ll be available to visitors but won’t cover high-speed Inter-City Express (ICE) trains. The €49 ticket will be available to buy as part of a monthly subscription that can be cancelled at any time.

A brand-new sleeper train could soon link Amsterdam and Barcelona

Currently, if you want to travel by train between Amsterdam and Barcelona, it involves changing several trains and nearly 17 hours of travel. But that could soon be set to change. New Dutch-Belgian rail company European Sleeper has announced plans to set up a direct night train route between Amsterdam and Barcelona.

European Sleeper’s new Amsterdam-Barcelona route will stop at Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, Lille, Avignon, Montpellier, Perpignan, Figueras and Girona. At the moment, the plan is to launch the line in spring 2025.

In other news, European Sleeper is officially launching its new route linking Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Berlin on May 25. Tickets go on sale on February 20 and you can find out more here.

Also Read: Paris likely to ban e-scooters, It Just Got Easier to Get to New York City from JFK Airport and more

Hong Kong will pay for your plane ticket to visit in 2023

Last year, the Hong Kong tourist board announced plans to give away half a million free plane tickets to encourage tourism in 2023 – and now it’s finally, officially happening.

Hong Kong’s free ticket giveaway will kick off from March 1. The 500,000 airline tickets up for grabs will be distributed to overseas travellers by airlines Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airlines over the course of six months. Tickets will initially be allocated to visitors from south-east Asian countries, followed by those in mainland China and in north-east Asia. A portion of the tickets will also be handed out to visitors from Europe and the US – and rumour has it flights from the UK should be available in May from Cathay Pacific. Keep an eye on the airlines’ websites for details.

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