Greenpeace slams 'twisted economics' as flights are 30 times cheaper than trains
Train tickets can be 30 times as expensive as taking a flight in Europe, despite the hugely increased environmental impact of flying, a new report from Greenpeace has revealed.
As Europe braces for record-breaking temperatures fuelled by human-accelerated climate change, the pace of switching to less energy intensive forms of transport is not quick enough, the environmental charity has argued.
Greenpeace has revealed the shocking extent to which people in Europe are being encouraged to fly rather than take the train, highlighting how well intentioned travellers are priced out of eco-alternatives to planes.
Its new report compares the costs of flight and train tickets on 112 routes in Europe at 9 different points in time.
Tickets for trains are on average twice as expensive as for flights, while on the London-Barcelona route, the cost of taking the train is up to 30 times as much as the cost of a flight.
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Have you been put off getting the train instead of a plane by price? Let us know in the comments.
Budget airlines are able to tickets cheaper than rail alternatives, the report found (NurPhoto via Getty Images)Train tickets on the studied routes are on average twice as expensive as flight tickets, and around four times as expensive in the UK and Spain
Flight tickets are cheaper than train tickets on 71% of the routes analysed, while only 23 European routes are almost always cheaper by train than by plane
Low-cost airlines operate 79% of the routes analysed, and are in most cases cheaper than rail thanks to their unfair and aggressive pricing strategies.
Flying can be more than 80 times worse for the climate than taking the train, yet, airlines are exempt from paying tax on kerosene - a petroleum product which is the main ingredient in jet fuel.
A recent Mirror investigation found that a UK government tax cut for domestic flights had directly led to more routes being setting up which will dump more than 9,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.
At the same time as British domestic flight tax is slashed, the French government is trying to encourage citizens onto greener trains by banning many internal flights which have a rail alternative.
Across the whole continent a tax on kerosene would raise almost £30bn, while railways have no equivalent exemptions for any energy that they consume.
The cost different can make it hard for travellers to choose the green option (Getty Images)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.
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"£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."
In order to make rail more affordable than air transport, Greenpeace has urged European national governments to introduce climate tickets - affordable and simple long-term tickets valid on all means of public transport in a country or a defined region.
Windfall profit taxes, the phase-out of airline subsidies and a taxation system based on CO2 emissions would make revenues available for funding climate tickets while improving public transport networks, the organisation argues.
In recent decades, aviation has been the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, increasing 29% between 2009 and 2019. Air traffic is reaching its pre-pandemic levels, at the exact same time when people are facing destructive fires and droughts across the planet.
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