Yes, this is both true and somewhat unfortunate. For tourism, and if you're young, the Interrail tickets are probably attractive (one or two months unlimited f

Yes, this is both true and somewhat unfortunate. For tourism, and if you're young, the Interrail tickets are probably attractive (one or two months unlimited for XXX EUR). There are also various methods of price discrimination now being used by rail companies, essentially modelled on airlines'. I. e. buying early, limited tickets sold in specific channels such as discount supermarkets etc. Of course this negates one of the advantages of rail travel: that you can just hop on any train and buy your ticket after departure (for a small fee), or ten minutes before departure, using using your phone.