The study published on 19 April by Trainline is taking place in a relatively sensitive context. For several years now, aircraft have been criticised for their impact on the environment, and the trend has accelerated with the phenomenon of the "flygskamor the "shame of flying". However, with the crisis, the subsidies granted by the State to airlines have sometimes led to environmental compensations, in particular with the d'ban domestic flights where rail offers a viable alternative. In fact, the authors of the study published by Trainline are quick to point this out in the preamble to...
The study published on 19 April by Trainline is taking place in a relatively sensitive context. For several years now, aircraft have been criticised for their impact on the environment, and the trend has accelerated with the phenomenon of the "flygskamor the "shame of flying". However, with the crisis, the subsidies granted by the State to airlines have sometimes led to environmental compensations, in particular with the d'ban domestic flights where rail offers a viable alternative. In fact, those responsible for the study published by Trainline are quick to point this out in the preamble to their report: " The "Getting around" section of the Climate and Resilience Bill, which provides for a ban on domestic flights with a rail alternative lasting less than 2.5 hours, will have a profound effect on tourism and business travel post-Covid-19. ". He continued: " Deprived of these air journeys, the French will be encouraged to prefer the train. In addition to its obvious environmental virtues, this alternative is also cheaper... and faster. ".
Promoting rail transport is not particularly surprising for a... rail booking platform. But Trainline was keen to back up its claim with figures. And it asserts that " On a journey of less than 2? hours, travelling by train rather than by plane is almost twice as fast, less expensive and more than 100 times less polluting. ". From an economic point of view, and despite the price pressure linked to the competition that has been raging in the air transport sector for several years now, the train could prove to be more advantageous. In fact, the authors of the Trainline study have adopted a door-to-door approach: " taking into account the ticket price and ancillary journeys, air travel is on average 1.8 times more expensive than rail travel "they assure us, adding that " A journey from Paris to Bordeaux costs around €76 by plane, compared with €53 by train. Some journeys are more than twice as expensive by plane, such as Marseille-Lyon or Paris-Rennes. ". A plausible calculation if the taxi journey to the airport is taken into account, but more questionable when the authors base it on public transport: " In addition to the ticket itself, the price difference is justified in particular by the additional journeys involved, with the RER to the airport, for example, being more expensive than the metro or bus to the station. ". The many travellers in the Paris region who have a Navigo pass - which is "de-zoned" for the annual season ticket - are unlikely to agree... Nor will the regulars at certain TGV stations, some of which are very far from the city centre.
For the latter, the other premise of the Trainline study will also be the subject of debate: " The train is almost twice as fast ". Here too, the authors of the report emphasise the strategic location of stations in relation to airports. They also take into account, of course, the more time-consuming procedures before and after take-off. " To calculate the time taken to travel by air, a time of one hour's presence at the airport has been taken into account, although the time taken by travellers can be considerably longer if luggage has to be checked in, for example. "it says. " It is interesting to note that even without taking into account the time needed to get to the airport, the train wins out over the plane on four out of five journeys. ". According to Trainline's calculations, the door-to-door journey time from Châtelet in Paris to Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux would be "at least 3 hours 53 minutes" by plane. By train, on the other hand, the journey would take 2 hours 30 minutes. On the Paris-Rennes route, the centre-to-centre journey would even fall from 3 hours 21 minutes to 1 hour 44 minutes.
depending on the journey, the carbon footprint can be 124 to 151 times lower when made by train than by plane
Finally, the third area explored by the Trainline study is fairly consensual: the ecological advantage of rail over air travel. The authors of the report consider that " depending on the journey, the carbon footprint can be 124 to 151 times lower when made by train than by plane ". " Switching to the train for journeys of less than 2.5 hours is a win-win-win situation: less pollution, shorter journey times and lower costs. "says Audrey Détrie. The Managing Director of Trainline International adds: " The trend towards a return to rail travel is likely to become firmly rooted in French travel habits over the long term, and Trainline will be there to support them throughout this transition and beyond. ".
