cover image: Ticket Prices of Planes and Trains - a Europe-wide analysis

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Ticket Prices of Planes and Trains - a Europe-wide analysis

19 Jul 2023

Flying is the fastest growing source of transport-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. In the face of a looming climate emergency, action should be taken to curb this boom that is putting our future at risk. Yet, far from taking a responsible approach, EU institutions and national governments continue to subsidise climate change through giveaways to airlines and airports, while closing down railway stations and lines. As a result, air traffic in Europe is now returning to pre-pandemic levels. Ryanair was again Europe's most polluting airline in 2022, and emissions from Ryanair and Wizz Air last year exceeded those of 2019, making 2022 the year of their peak emissions. One of the reasons people choose to fly rather than travel by train is price: why would anyone take the train from London to Barcelona and pay up to €384 when air tickets are available for the low price of €12.99? By analysing 112 European routes and comparing air and rail fares on 9 different days for each route, this report shows the extent to which European citizens are being encouraged to fly. It also identifies the reasons for these price differences and proposes solutions to make rail competitive on all routes.
transport travel eu

Authors

Greenpeace CEE

Published in
Austria

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