Points clés de l'article :
- Public subsidies for public transport and train travel
- Aggregators, carbon budget indicators for travel
- Flying is 1.8 times more expensive on average
- Taking the train in Europe couldn't be easier
- Could the return of night trains replace the flight-and-hotel combo?
Source: SNCF
Public subsidies for public transport and train travel
A wave of forced austerity is arriving alongside the consequences of climate change, so European governments are proposing solutions to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Germany, for example, is leading the way by offering 9-euro train tickets. These are the nine-euro tickets from Deutsche Bahn, the German national railway, which allow travel anywhere in Germany for 9 euros during the months of June, July, and August 2022. This highly popular innovation even attracted foreign tourists. Camille Sitbon, a French traveler who crossed Europe from Paris to Stockholm via Germany, explained to the KlimaSchool team that "the tickets aren't just for Germans. Danes are coming in droves to take advantage of them, so much so that the Hamburg-Copenhagen line has been overwhelmed. The price incentive works, and supply creates demand." Towards free public transport in Spain? To combat inflation of over 10%, the Spanish government has already chosen to lower the price of public transport by around 30% in certain cities, notably Madrid, but it is going even further by funding free train travel on certain routes using taxes on the windfall profits made by energy companies. Thus, a virtuous cycle is emerging: funding low-carbon transport through levies on the profits of companies that trade in fossil fuels and contribute to climate change.
"The price incentive works, and supply creates demand" - Camille Sitbon - train traveler in Europe, summer 2022.
Aggregators, carbon budget indicators for travel.
Flight and travel comparison sites, as well as organizations like Avenir Climatique, are implementing carbon calculators that use distance, departure point, and destination as parameters to reveal the carbon budgets of your journeys. More importantly, GPS navigation mobile apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and RATP will be required to prioritize suggesting trains or less polluting public transport, and to display the carbon budget for trips. They will also be required to suggest ways to reduce emissions and practice energy sobriety, such as by reducing speed. This new development follows the Climate and Resilience Law, for which the decree was published on August 3rd, itself a consequence of the proposals from the Citizens' Convention for Climate in the summer of 2020.
Flying is 1.8 times more expensive on average
Contrary to what you might hear, flying remains more expensive according to a study conducted for Trainline. Moving a body through the air is always more energy-intensive than pushing it along rails. Thus, in line with the figures published by Trainline, we find that flying costs more than taking the train and often wastes time on short or medium-haul trips. It is always worth remembering that taking a flight consumes the equivalent of a bathtub full of oil for every passenger, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of a private car.
Taking the train in Europe couldn't be simpler:
Admittedly, Europe connects several national networks and different operators, which can seem complex. However, a solution exists for long-distance travelers. It is calledEurorail Interrail, a European pass that allows you to travel across all countries in the European Union. This pass is not just for young people, even though it is often used by students who take advantage of its affordable cost to travel through the various countries of the union. Interrail allows you to plan your route and select the best pass to choose your train journey across Europe. Furthermore, the development of mobile apps by train companies has considerably simplified travel for passengers. Notably, Camille Sitbon states, for example, that "French and Swedish companies now send many text messages to facilitate access to trains. You just need to translate them, which is very easy with a smartphone."
Could the return of night trains replace the flight-and-hotel combo?
Finally, one might also wonder why night trains have almost completely disappeared from the map of Europe. Is it a problem of slowness, profitability, or quality? In any case, the conclusion is clear: it is almost impossible to travel long distances by night in Europe today. However, the Paris-Vienna route is still operated by the company ÖBB, the same company that is expected to relaunch a Paris-Berlin line at the end of 2023. Beyond the destination, it is primarily the range and comfort that will change, so as to no longer attract only students looking for budget-friendly tickets, but also travelers who can afford a higher price for a higher-quality train journey. This revolution is the return of comfortable, Orient Express-style trains. The logic is to replace the Friday evening flight and a hotel stay upon arrival with a train departure on Friday evening and an arrival at the destination the next morning, all in ultra-premium comfort. Thus, the company Midnight Trains is set to launch a new "hotel on rails," a new high-end train connecting Paris to Rome, Milan, Berlin, and Barcelona.
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