70% of UK's most popular domestic flights 'are faster and cheaper by train'

Most of the nation’s most popular domestic flights and some short-haul European destinations could be completed cheaper and faster by train, according to a new report. Of the 23 most popular flights to UK and Europe destinations, 70% were faster by rail and 57% were cheaper or the same price, research by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) found. On top of the time and money savings, switching just a quarter of those domestic flights for rail journeys would save 171,377 tonnes of carbon emissions - equivalent to taking 117,900 cars off the road, researchers found, while switching half of the flights would equate to taking 283,000 cars off the road. Public transport lobby the CBT is calling for airlines to provide "realistic travelling times" for domestic flights as part of its Fewer Flights Charter aimed at reducing aviation’s carbon emissions. Its research showed that flying from London Heathrow to Edinburgh costs between GBP60 and GBP300 by air versus GBP24.90 to GBP145.70 by rail. Accounting for travel and processing time in the station or airport, taking the train to the Scottish capital would be 20 minutes quicker than via plane, it found, while the carbon emission for the flight per passenger was 132.35kg versus 14.53kg by train.<br/>