A closer look
If you thought Eurail was a utopian project of European unity, think again. Launched in 1959, this infinite-rail-glitch of a ticket was aggressively gatekept. It was designed entirely to drain post-war American tourists of their robust dollars by offering them unlimited, continent-wide rail travel. Actual European residents were legally prohibited from buying it. The creators knew that if locals had access to a cheap, all-you-can-ride transit pass, the entire continental railway system would financially implode overnight.
