I’ve never been asked to show a passport before boarding a train in Europe.

I think what you’ve been reading applies to using a eurail pass, not to taking the train….
If you use a railpass the conductor can (and occasionally does) ask for your passport to confirm your identity because eurail passes are only available to non-Europeans and the pass can only be used by the person it was issued to. I don’t think they ever check passports for passengers using tickets. The only time I as was ever asked to show my passport to BOARD a train was Eurostar (the chunnel train) between London and Paris.

Border guards board the train to ask for passports at border crossings, but there are no border checks within the EU, so effectively you won’t be crossing any borders on your trip.

BTW, I doubt you’ll be able to buy a railpass for your boyfriend as you have to supply passport number to buy one.

Often, officials will board the train at the border to check passports. Not sure if military ID suffices…

Thanks for your help and the heads up on buying the railpass

quote:He does not have a Passport, only a Military ID and leave papers.

Make sure his leave papers include all countries to be visited! Since FR and DE are NATO, this is o.k. as long as leave specifically lists those destinations.

quote:
Border guards board the train to ask for passports at border crossings, but there are no border checks within the EU, so effectively you won’t be crossing any borders on your trip.

That’s the theory (within Schengen, not within the EU, but in your case it’s the same). But in reality I’ve had my ID checked at many intra-Schengen borders, and even on an international train I was only taking within Belgium once.

Since this is all intra-EU-schengen, you should be alright.

Now if you were going across into the East or the Balkans, that’s when you can expect the men with Truncheons and Nunchukas to board the train and begin to summarily flogg anyone without proper papers.

Ok, not really…..

-A