Britons travelling to European holiday spots by rail face paying FOUR times as much as they would by the less eco-friendly method of aeroplane
- Plane is cheaper on 79 of 112 routes analysed between 27 European countries
- Biggest difference is last-minute Barcelona-London trip at 30x more by rail
Taking the train to Europe is four times more expensive on average than flying – with some routes costing up to 30 times more if booked last-minute, a report has found.
Greenpeace said travelling by train is five times less polluting than flying – but on 79 of the 112 routes looked at between 27 European countries, the plane was cheaper.
The environmental group analysed 12 routes to or from Britain or internally within the UK, with the biggest disparity for those travelling from Barcelona to London.
This was ten times more on average than flying and up to 30 times more if booked last minute (£13 flight, £384 train) – the biggest price difference in the analysis.
The average price for train tickets in Britain compared to analysed flight routes was 4.04 – meaning rail travel costs more than four times as much as flying in the UK. The next highest figures were 3.86 for Spain, 2.6 for Belgium and 2.59 for France.
Greenpeace analysed ticket prices on more than 100 routes between major European cities including the UK, with the research done in three separate timespans – for travel in a few days’ time, a month’s time and four months’ time.
Cost of trips to/ from London by rail or plane
This data shows the cost when booking a trip in exactly one month, plus or minus two days from the day of research by Greenpeace:
- Amsterdam-London – £46 flight / £83 train
- Glasgow-London – £18 flight / £37 train
- Paris-London – £24 flight / £64 train
- Manchester-Cologne – £26 flight / £153 train
- Edinburgh-London – £23 flight / £37 train
- Barcelona-London – £38 flight / £266 train
- London–Brussels – £38 flight / £74 train
- London–Bratislava – £22 flight / £214 train
- London–Vienna – £25 flight / £206 train
- Berlin–London – £69 flight / £154 train
- Marseille–London – £20 flight / £146 train
Many rail journeys on the continent were found by the researchers to be twice as expensive as flying despite there being direct routes between cities.
Flying was cheaper on all of the routes from the UK that the team looked at, including between London and Edinburgh.
Looking at booking travel in a month’s time, Edinburgh to London was £23 to fly or £37 to take the train.
Other routes looked at within the same timescale were Amsterdam to London (£46 flight, £83 train); Glasgow to London (£18 flight, £37 train); and Paris to London (£24 flight, £64 train).
Further routes for travel in a month’s time were Manchester to Cologne (£26 flight, £153 train); Barcelona to London (£38 flight, £266 train); and London to Brussels (£38 flight, £74 train).
The researchers also looked at London to Bratislava (£22 flight, £214 train); London to Vienna (£25 flight, £206 train); Berlin to London (£69 flight, £154 train); and Marseille to London (£20 flight, £146 train).
The environmental group said the price differences are from an uneven regulatory playing field at the expense of the climate and workers’ rights.
Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s director of policy, said: ‘As millions of Brits head off on their European breaks – many to areas that are being scorched by this historic heatwave – the twisted economics of the transport industry means they are being encouraged to keep throwing fuel on the climate inferno.
‘Flying only looks like a bargain because the cost of pollution is so cheap. Low-cost airlines are paying negligible tax while imposing low wages and poor conditions on staff.’
Travelling to Barcelona (file picture of Barcelona–El Prat Airport) from London by train was found to be ten times more expensive on average than flying, according to Greenpeace
Greenpeace called the UK’s 12 routes the ‘dirty dozen’ and said train journeys cannot compete when a ticket to Barcelona from London costs as little as £11.
How Britain tops league for price of train travel compared to flights
This is the average price for train tickets compared to flights in countries for which at least six routes were analysed by Greenpeace. For example, ‘4.04’ means that the train cost 4.04 times as much as the flight in the UK:
Swapping the 3.36million annual flights on this route to rail would save around approximately 461,000 tons of greenhouse gases, the group said.
They also said 3.4million passengers fly between London and Edinburgh every year despite there being dozens of train connections every day.
The report analysed 112 routes in Europe, including 94 cross-border connections and 18 domestic.
Train tickets on these routes were on average twice as expensive as flight tickets, and around four times as expensive in the UK and Spain.
The report said flight tickets were cheaper than train tickets on 71 per cent of the routes analysed. And only 23 European routes are almost always cheaper by train than by plane.
Low-cost airlines operate 79 per cent of the routes analysed, and are in most cases cheaper than rail.
Greenpeace wants the Government to ban short-haul flights where there are viable rail alternatives, end subsidies for airlines and airports, phase out tax exemptions for kerosene and introduce a frequent flyer levy.
It is also calling for the introduction of ‘climate tickets’, which would allow travel on low-carbon forms of public transport in a country or region.
Greenpeace EU senior climate campaigner Lorelei Limousin said: ‘Airlines benefit from outrageous fiscal advantages. Planes pollute far more than trains, so why are people being encouraged to fly?
‘Low-cost airlines, in particular, have exploited every loophole and trick in the book. €10 airline tickets are only possible because others, like workers and taxpayers, pay the true cost.
Barcelona Sants rail station is pictured. Passengers travelling to London from the city would generally take an SNCF TGV train from this station to Paris, then take a Eurostar to St Pancras
‘For the planet and people’s sake, politicians must act to turn this situation around and make taking the train the more affordable option, or else we’re only going to see more and more heatwaves like the one currently wreaking total havoc in Spain, Italy, Greece and elsewhere.’
Most expensive train routes compared to flights across Europe
These are the ten most expensive train trips compared to flights. The figure ‘10.3’ means that the train costs 10.3 times as much as the flight on average:
- Barcelona–London 10.3
- Valencia–Paris 7.9
- London–Bratislava 7.8
- Madrid–Brussels 7.4
- Marseille–London 6.7
- Manchester–Cologne 4.9
- London–Vienna 4.9
- Milan–Prague 4.8
- Budapest–Brussels 4.6
- Marseille–Rome 4.5
Stefan Gössling, a professor of tourism research at Linnaeus University in Sweden, who has studied flight emissions, has looked at the study and praised the quality of its research.
He also pointed out that one of the main reasons for the disparity is subsidies for the air industry. Airlines in Europe also pay no taxes on kerosene.
Mr Gössling told the Guardian: ‘The findings do not come as a surprise, as air transport is highly subsidised.
‘In short, if you fly, you are subsidised; if you take the train, you are punished by higher prices – as well as the fact that the journey is often longer.’
A separate analysis by the clean transport campaign group Transport and Environment recently found that the UK was missing out on £4.7billion in tax that it could be taking from the aviation sector.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We’re committed to decarbonising air travel without the need to limit demand.
‘Our Jet Zero Strategy sets out our approach for net zero aviation by 2050, and recent reforms to air passenger tax means those who fly furthest, and have the greatest impact on emissions, incur a greater cost.’
The report was released on the same day that budget airline easyJet swung to a third quarter profit and said it expected record earnings over its peak season despite cautioning over a ‘challenging’ summer of airport strike action.
Greenpeace said 3.4million passengers fly between London and Edinburgh every year despite there being dozens of train connections every day – including on LNER (pictured)
The group said it has taken steps to offset the impact on passengers from air traffic control (ATC) industrial action – with ATC strike days up 40 per cent already in the year to date against 2019.
It recently announced 1,700 flight cancellations from Gatwick in a move expected to impact around 180,000 passengers as it looks to pre-empt ATC disruption and give a buffer in its flights programme to cope with delays.
The group’s boss Johan Lundgren said there has been no impact so far from the searing heatwave across southern Europe on demand or disruption to flights or its package holiday offers.
The Foreign Office has issued extreme weather warnings for Britons travelling to popular holiday destinations in Italy, Spain and Greece as temperatures soar close to 50C, with Canary Island La Palma also devastated by wildfires due to the heat.
The company swung to a record headline pre-tax profit of £203million for the three months to June 30, against losses of £114million a year ago after increasing its flight programme by 5 per cent to 146,816.
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