Europe Train vs Plane Costs: Is Rail Still More Expensive?

The NGO analyzed 109 cross -border routes and 33 routes within the same country. For all, the train route was “reasonably” passable, either during the day or by night.

The train is up to 26 times more expensive than the plane, according to comparisons made by Greenpeace, which quotes the extreme case of a Barcelona – London journey reserved a month in advance: 389 euros for the train against 14.99 euros for the plane.

The Little CO2 Train

“It is clear that people are encouraged to take the plane to travel to Europe, even when there is a reasonable rail link,” deplores the environmental NGO, which recalls that the train is one of the less emitting CO2 transportation modes by passenger-kilometer, unlike the plane, which is most polluting.

France is the country where cross -border rail trips are the most expensive compared to flights, where “95% of all routes were more expensive by train at least 6 days out of 9”, according to the same report.

Night trains constitute, according to the NGO, “the best option for long -distance climate -resistant journeys”, even if they are “generally more expensive” than low -cost flights.

Rail tolls in question

Greenpeace wants rail transport to be “systematically cheaper on all routes across Europe”, and denounce the fact that kerosene is not taxed while “rail operators are subject to energy taxes, VAT and high royalties of access to the tracks in many countries”.

These fees, or rail tolls, are “the main reason for the price difference between plane and train”, explains François Guénard, partner in charge of the rail sector at Roland Berger. “The rail infrastructure is very expensive to maintain, and part of these funding is done by tolls,” says the specialist.

For him, one of the solutions to improve the offer of trains in Europe would be to “gradually adapt the infrastructure so that the trains can circulate easily between several countries”, in particular unifying the rails or food currents.

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