Flying in Europe up to 30 times cheaper than train, says Greenpeace

Europe’s cheap flights and pricey train tickets promote dirty forms of transport, campaigners say, with “outrageous” tax breaks encouraging people to heat the planet as they head on holiday. Train tickets are double the price of flights for the same routes, on average, according to an analysis from Greenpeace published on Thursday. The campaigners compared tickets on 112 routes on nine different days. To get from London to Barcelona, they found, the cost of taking the train is up to 30 times the cost of jumping on a plane. Holiday destinations across Europe this week have been baking in deadly heat made hotter by greenhouse gases released from burning fossil fuels. “E10 airline tickets are only possible because others, like workers and taxpayers, pay the true cost,” said Lorelei Limousin, a climate campaigner at Greenpeace. “For the planet and people’s sake, politicians must act to turn this situation around and make taking the train the more affordable option.” Flying is one of the most polluting activities a person can do and also one of the hardest to clean up. Unlike eating a burger or driving a car – which have cleaner alternatives such as plant-based meats and electric vehicles – there is no way to fly without changing the climate. Experts have criticised schemes claiming to offset emissions from flying as flawed. The Greenpeace campaigners found train travel was more expensive than flying, on average, on 79 of the 121 routes they studied. On many routes, there were individual days where the train was cheaper than the plane, even if the average cost was greater. Trains beat planes on eight or nine of the nine days tested on 23 of the routes. Half of these were deemed “great” for having regular and reliable connections, a good speed and tickets below E150.<br/>