Greenpeace report Ticket prices of trains vs planes a Europe-wide analysis revealed the extent to which people in Europe are being encouraged to fly rather than take the train.

Greenpeace said that policies at the EU and national levels have created an “unfair competitive advantage for climate-wrecking airlines”.

Route comparison

The report analysed 112 routes in Europe (EU, UK, Switzerland and Norway) at nine points in time. Cross-border connections account for 94 of the routes analysed, while 18 are domestic.

Flight tickets were cheaper than train tickets on 71% of the routes analysed. The report revealed that train tickets on these routes are on average twice as expensive as flight tickets, and around four times as expensive in the UK and Spain. Only 23 European routes are almost always cheaper by train than by plane.

On the London to Barcelona route, the cost of taking the train can be up to 30 times as much as the cost of a flight.

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Low-cost airlines operate 79% of the routes analysed. Greenpeace said budget airlines are generally cheaper than rail “thanks to their unfair and aggressive pricing strategies”.

Flying and the environment

Flying can be more than 80 times worse for the climate than taking the train, according to Greenpeace. In recent decades, aviation has been the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, increasing 29% between 2009 and 2019.

But despite this, airlines are exempt from paying tax on kerosene, a petroleum product which is the main ingredient in jet fuel.

It is estimated that taxpayers in Europe lose out on a total of €34bn a year thanks to this and other tax exemptions. Railways have no equivalent exemptions for any energy that they consume. A plan to revise the kerosene tax exemption for airlines has stalled at the EU level.

Air traffic is now back to pre-pandemic levels, at the exact same time when people are facing destructive fires and droughts across the planet.

Lorelei Limousin, Greenpeace EU senior climate campaigner, 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.

“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.”

Calls for ‘climate tickets’

In order to make rail more affordable than air transport, Greenpeace is calling on all European national Governments to introduce “climate tickets”, which would be affordable and simple long-term tickets valid on all means of public transport in a country or a defined region.

Together with the EU institutions, Greenpeace said Governments should co-operate for the implementation of a cross-border climate ticket. It said the tickets could be funded by windfall profit taxes, the phase-out of airline subsidies, and a fair taxation system based on CO2 emissions.