The most wonderful time of the year is increasingly becoming the most expensive time of the year, and especially if your end-of-year activity involves an environmentally responsible train journey.
It's a sad reality that the common perception of rail as being less convenient and more expensive is, in the majority of cases, true. This was affirmed by a Greenpeace comparison of trips between Brussels and major European cities at peak times in the festive season. The analysis found that going by train costs on average three times more – a financial penalty that would test the staunchest of climate consciences.
Adding in the often longer journey time and the fact that international rail trips often require multiple bookings on different networks, the balance is tipped firmly in favour of flying, despite the clear downsides of this transport mode. It's a frustrating state of affairs that makes a long-distance rail passenger a martyr to their conscience, with no appreciation for their commitment.
And it's not that those who do board kerosene-greedy aircraft are egocentric denialists (though it is difficult to extend the same clemency to the jet-setting ultra-rich). The public are well aware of the unfair advantage airlines enjoy through tax cuts and subsidies and would end them if they could, instead applying the same encouragement to train operators.
But the EU has been weak in its stance against the carriers of the skies, with planes allowed to rise above complications that hold up locomotives on the ground (such as a lack of harmonisation between national rail networks). Whilst some countries have put their foot down on the most nonsensical of flightpaths, there has been a distinct lack of reciprocal measures to get the continent's trains rolling as smoothly as they could.
Rail companies are eager to replicate the model of budget airlines so that they can offer similar cheap deals to those that tempt people to fly. But to make this a reality, fair legislation is needed. The EU named 2021 its "Year of Rail" but only sustained efforts will keep up the momentum.
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