University students in Romania will benefit from free domestic rail transport starting February 1, education minister Pavel Nastase told local Agerpres.

The Government approved last week an emergency ordinance according to which the full-time students of accredited higher education institutions will benefit from free rail transport. The measure is to apply to all types of trains, class II.

At present, students benefit from a 50% discount for train rides. To benefit from the discount, the students have to buy tickets from CFR offices, showing their student cards. While on the train, they have to present both the ticket and the documents required for the discount.

Tens of thousands of students in Romania move away from their home cities each year to study in big university centers such as Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, and Timisoara.

The students in Romania benefited from free train rides during the parliamentary elections organized in December. The measure was taken to increase the number of people who vote in the elections, as those who wanted to vote could only do it in their home city or, if they were not there, in another city located in the same county.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com