EUROPE: Environmental campaigning organisation Greenpeace has produced a comprehensive study of rail services between major European cities, highlighting the ‘untapped potential’ for new direct trains which could replace flights.
The Connection Failed report looks at 990 routes between 45 cities. It says only 13% of the routes are currently served by direct trains, while 69% are served by direct flights.
Of the 990 routes, Greenpeace says 419 could be served by trains taking under 18 h, but only 114 are. Of the 305 missing routes, 139 could be served by day trains taking under 12 h and 166 by night trains taking 12 h to 18 h. Missing links include Paris – Roma, Madrid – Paris and London – Berlin.
The report says there is no simple explanation as to why there are so few direct trains. Factors include a lack of infrastructure investment, a shortage of rolling stock, lack of interoperability, a focus on national connections, a lack of political will and support, regulatory issues, high track access charges, a lack of co-operation between operators and a lack of data compared to the aviation sector.
Greenpeace calls on governments to take action, and for the European Commission to speed up technical and legal harmonisation. It also urges policymakers to support the purchase of new and second-hand rolling stock, and develop a unified train information system encompassing all operators and a unified booking system allowing the purchase of through tickets.
‘Train travel is environmentally friendly, comfortable and is becoming increasingly popular’, says Jasmin Duregger, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria. ‘But there is a lack of political will to expand city connections in Europe sufficiently so that they represent a real alternative to air travel. With existing infrastructure alone, 305 new direct train connections between cities can be created in Europe. Governments must work together and promote direct connections to offer alternatives to environmentally harmful air travel.’
