Travelling by plane is also given priority by third-party online ticketing platforms and journey planners, which furthers the consumer bias towards flying as travelling by train is often not even offered as an option. France has banned some short-haul domestic flights, which many argue is only possible thanks to the country’s existing high-speed rail routes. While the slashing of domestic duty was an attempt to stimulate the air industry post-pandemic, it simultaneously compounded the existing gap between domestic air and rail travel in the country. The UK has cut air passenger duty in half for domestic flights while doubling it for long-haul flights. let’s put an end to air travel subsidies, starting with phasing out kerosene tax exemptions, and make trains more affordable by introducing climate tickets.” “It’s time to stop subsidising the climate crisis. But these cheap tickets come at a high cost to the planet and its inhabitants,” Herwig Schuster, transport expert for Greenpeace’s Mobility for All campaign says. “Citizens are encouraged to fly rather than take the train. ![]() On the other hand, railways and train operators have to pay fuel or energy taxes, VAT, and in rail tolls in some countries. In many cases, airlines and airports also benefit from further subsidies paid for with regional or national taxpayers’ money. Greenpeace highlights “unfair” pricing systems that favour air travel over rail, pointing out that airlines pay neither kerosene tax nor VAT on international flights, which combined add up to subsidies totalling tens of billions of euros each year. The report shows that travelling by rail is on average twice as expensive as flying and some routes cost up to 30 times as much for a same-day trip. Despite the rail connections available on these routes, Greenpeace’s analysis shows that flights still remain much cheaper than rail. London–Edinburgh, and Toulouse–Paris, which are 4-4.5 hours by train each – are still among the four most popular short-haul flights in Europe. Some of the most efficient train routes in Europe – such as Amsterdam–London, The price may also vary from one operator to another. Rail ticketing was found to be more expensive the more different rail companies were involved in the trip and the more separate tickets that have to be bought for different parts of the trip. ![]() However, train frequency, speed, connections, and services were more often rated worse in than in Western regions. In Central and Eastern Europe, trains were found to be more often cheaper than flights compared to Western Europe. The countries with the most expensive train tickets compared to flights are the UK, Italy, Belgium, France, and Spain. Of these 23 routes, 16 are not served by low-cost carriers, and 6 routes do not have the option of direct flights at all. The report categorises only half of these 23 routes as “decent” train trips, with the others having “impractical or slow” rail connections. ![]() Only 23 of the routes analysed are cheaper by train than by plane. Rail trips are on average twice as expensive as flights, according to the research. In 79 out of 112 routes analysed, flights were shown to be less expensive than trains. “But price isn’t the only factor for passengers, rail also needs to compete on travel time and the quality of the experience, if we’re to see a meaningful modal shift from air to rail.” What are the findings? The unfortunate reality is that the air industry has held a monopoly over affordable travel for many years now, and rail providers have been unable to compete on cost for a multitude of reasons,” says Cameron Jones, COO of rail digital infrastructure company Silverrail. “In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, it’s no surprise that passengers are concerned about the cost of travel. By analysing 112 European routes and comparing air and rail fares on nine differentĭays for each route, the report posits that the price differences are due to regulatory differences between the two modes and proposes some solutions to make rail travel more competitive against travelling by plane.
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