Euro 2024: Germany to sell cheap train tickets for fans attending games
Fans who are lucky enough to get tickets for next year's Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany should be able to travel by train to host cities for just €30, UEFA has announced.
The budget-friendly train tickets are the outcome of a deal between UEFA and Deutsche Bahn as tournament organisers look for ways to make Euros 2024 a more climate-friendly and sustainable affair.
They will allow ticket holders to make a single journey on an ICE train to one of the Euros host cities for €30, regardless of where they are travelling from.
Cheaper Interrail tickets should also be available for people travelling from elsewhere in Europe, though the details of this still haven't been finalised.
Environmental experts and campaigners have hailed the €30 tickets as an effective incentive to travel by public transport rather than by car.
CO2 emissions from fans' car journeys account for the bulk of the emissions produced by the Euros tournament, so encouraging train travel could make a major difference.
READ ALSO: Will Germany's €49 ticket be continued?
But Germany's Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) has criticised the fact that the budget ICE tickets aren't available for purchase yet - and won't come on sale until January.
It's also unclear if fans will be aware of the train ticket deal, since there is no mention of it in UEFA's ticket confirmation emails and Deutsche Bahn doesn't plan to promote the offer until the tickets come on sale.
"That's too late," BUND's Jens Hilgenberg told ARD Sportschau, adding that it should be "as easy as possible" to take advantage of the deal.
"That would mean being able to book a train ticket directly when booking the ticket for the match and not just afterwards," he explained. "That's an opportunity that is now being missed."
As part of UEFA's sustainability plans, there will also be fewer parking spaces than usual available at stadiums around Germany and local transport tickets will be provided to ticket-holders free-of-charge.
Matches will be played all around the country at stadiums in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Hamburg, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main and Stuttgart.
The opening match will be played in Munich on June 14th and the final will be played in Berlin on July 14th.
1.2 million tickets sold so far
Though the opening match for Euros 2024 won't take place until June 14th next year, millions of fans have already tried their luck at getting hold of one of the first 1.2 million tickets on offer.
The first round of sales kicked off on October 3rd and ran until October 26th on the official UEFA website, with the football association reporting that around 20 million people had applied for a ticket.
With such a high level of interest, tickets have been allocated via a lottery system, with successful and unsuccessful applicants set to be notified by email or on the UEFA fan portal this week.
A smartphone displays the app and logo for the UEFA Euros 2024 in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Zuma Press | Aleksandr Gusev
People who don't pay for their tickets by Friday, however, will see them deleted from their accounts and passed onto other applicants who were further behind them in the lottery.
But anyone who missed their chance to get hold of tickets this time around will have another chance after December 2nd, when the next round of tickets go on sale.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to get tickets for Euro 2024 in Germany
At this point, the competition could be even stiffer, since by then it will be clear when major teams like Spain, France and England will be playing in the group stages and in which stadiums they will play.
The final list of qualified teams will also be revealed in December and one million tickets will go on sale to fans of these national teams.
Further phases for the remaining 500,000 tickets will follow after the play-offs in March - where the three remaining participants will be determined - and shortly before the tournament in the last-minute sale as well as during the tournament for the knockout round.
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The budget-friendly train tickets are the outcome of a deal between UEFA and Deutsche Bahn as tournament organisers look for ways to make Euros 2024 a more climate-friendly and sustainable affair.
They will allow ticket holders to make a single journey on an ICE train to one of the Euros host cities for €30, regardless of where they are travelling from.
Cheaper Interrail tickets should also be available for people travelling from elsewhere in Europe, though the details of this still haven't been finalised.
Environmental experts and campaigners have hailed the €30 tickets as an effective incentive to travel by public transport rather than by car.
CO2 emissions from fans' car journeys account for the bulk of the emissions produced by the Euros tournament, so encouraging train travel could make a major difference.
READ ALSO: Will Germany's €49 ticket be continued?
But Germany's Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) has criticised the fact that the budget ICE tickets aren't available for purchase yet - and won't come on sale until January.
It's also unclear if fans will be aware of the train ticket deal, since there is no mention of it in UEFA's ticket confirmation emails and Deutsche Bahn doesn't plan to promote the offer until the tickets come on sale.
"That's too late," BUND's Jens Hilgenberg told ARD Sportschau, adding that it should be "as easy as possible" to take advantage of the deal.
"That would mean being able to book a train ticket directly when booking the ticket for the match and not just afterwards," he explained. "That's an opportunity that is now being missed."
As part of UEFA's sustainability plans, there will also be fewer parking spaces than usual available at stadiums around Germany and local transport tickets will be provided to ticket-holders free-of-charge.
Matches will be played all around the country at stadiums in Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Hamburg, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main and Stuttgart.
The opening match will be played in Munich on June 14th and the final will be played in Berlin on July 14th.
1.2 million tickets sold so far
Though the opening match for Euros 2024 won't take place until June 14th next year, millions of fans have already tried their luck at getting hold of one of the first 1.2 million tickets on offer.
The first round of sales kicked off on October 3rd and ran until October 26th on the official UEFA website, with the football association reporting that around 20 million people had applied for a ticket.
With such a high level of interest, tickets have been allocated via a lottery system, with successful and unsuccessful applicants set to be notified by email or on the UEFA fan portal this week.
People who don't pay for their tickets by Friday, however, will see them deleted from their accounts and passed onto other applicants who were further behind them in the lottery.
But anyone who missed their chance to get hold of tickets this time around will have another chance after December 2nd, when the next round of tickets go on sale.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How to get tickets for Euro 2024 in Germany
At this point, the competition could be even stiffer, since by then it will be clear when major teams like Spain, France and England will be playing in the group stages and in which stadiums they will play.
The final list of qualified teams will also be revealed in December and one million tickets will go on sale to fans of these national teams.
Further phases for the remaining 500,000 tickets will follow after the play-offs in March - where the three remaining participants will be determined - and shortly before the tournament in the last-minute sale as well as during the tournament for the knockout round.
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