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Taking a plane is cheaper than taking a train, but people increasingly want to opt for this route. What needs to be done on the railway lines to make them accessible?
Generally, it is not possible to buy train tickets in Europe more than six months in advance, says .
When the date opens, demand is so much that Places tend to sell out within a few hourswhich leads a large part of Europeans to opt for flights, which are much cheaper (especially on airlines low cost).
But we must not resign ourselves to the situation, as is the case with Tess Longfieldwho told BBC reporters she is trying to “live a more sustainable life” and felt “embarrassed” about having to fly, much more polluting means of transport, to go on vacation, since he couldn’t get any more train tickets.
The demand for this means of transport for Interrail-type trips within Europe is growing, but users interviewed by the BBC report bad experiences, from non-refunds for tickets to their prices.
Em 2024, train routes (especially nocturnal ones) throughout Europe continued to expand and growing, led by the Austrian network, which now operates routes including Vienna-Venice and Paris-Berlin.
Eurail manages, one of the best-known train travel brands on the continent, which even gives its name to a “style” of train travel, in which several countries are visited, and claims to have seen the demand for European train travel and itineraries without available flights grows by 25% between 2022 and 2023.
Some countries encourage this option with governments like the French ban “homemade” flights for destinations where the rail alternative arrives in less than 2h30.
But why are train journeys so laborious and expensive?
Justin Francis, Executive Director of , the largest travel company in the world dedicated to ecologically correct travel, he believes he has some explanations for why the aviation industry still has hegemony.
Aviation fuel is not taxed properly (and it should, according to Francis), which makes travel cheaper. Furthermore, planes can be booked further in advance (trains should “allow booking 180 days in advance”, he says) and refund customers.
And finally, all bureaucracy associated with traveling by train: “You may be sitting on a train platform waiting for a connection for longer than you would like; it will probably be more expensive and, most likely, you will have to book the trip yourself,” writes the BBC.
For the specialist, these defects must be repaired, creating more routes, faster and with better connections between countriesand continuing to optimize this means of transport.
We need to compete on an equal footing,” he told the BBC. “I think we have been living in hope, encouraging people to think that Rail transport is the answer. It’s time to come to reality. It’s not the answerunless we can resolve the fundamental issues.”
