A new report by environmental campaign group Greenpeace says that air travel within Europe is up to 30 times cheaper than traveling by more sustainable trains.
I don’t think train can compete with a long distance means of transportation
That’s true. Trains can compete mid-range, or should be able to compete. With better infrastructure and organization (high speed rail, coordinated timetables, unified booking, …), this range can be extended. There will always be a certain distance after which planes are the better choice.
But we still should invest to push this point further into the distance, to make planes as obsolete as possible. Trains should be the cheapest option between short distance (bus) and long distance (plane). If they are not, we are doing something wrong in creating incentives.
I want to see long distance high speed night trains. I want to see trains riding bumper to bumper. I want to go overnight from Berlin to Oslo. Or Paris up Bucharest. Porto to Utrecht.
Note as well a German company recently brought back the sleeper carriages. When the travel happens overnight while I’m asleep, I tend not to care how long it takes.
Nothing is better than being able to board the train with free luggage allowance and without all the TSA lines, harassment, confiscations, etc. No wasting of my awake time (unlike air travel). Then waking up at the destination is effectively like zero time wasted.
Not Flixbus. It seemed to be a new small startup company who is just dedicated to sleeper trains… I don’t recall the details but it recently got a spotlight.
At 1st I was baffled by your suggestion that Flixbus would be even a candidate, but then recalled that they operate trains too in some regions.
Yes, night trains are a great option! Also sometimes much cheaper than day trains.
However, on the few night train trips I took, it didn’t feel so comfortable for me. One time, our train had a scheduled stop for several hours in the middle of the night at some station. There were bright lights all around, and other trains moving; a changing and occasionally very loud soundscape. So I was still all mushy the next day.
Some people seem to have very good experiences, others not so. Overall it’s great this option exist, and there is still room for improvement.
That’s true. Trains can compete mid-range, or should be able to compete. With better infrastructure and organization (high speed rail, coordinated timetables, unified booking, …), this range can be extended. There will always be a certain distance after which planes are the better choice.
But we still should invest to push this point further into the distance, to make planes as obsolete as possible. Trains should be the cheapest option between short distance (bus) and long distance (plane). If they are not, we are doing something wrong in creating incentives.
I want to see long distance high speed night trains. I want to see trains riding bumper to bumper. I want to go overnight from Berlin to Oslo. Or Paris up Bucharest. Porto to Utrecht.
Note as well a German company recently brought back the sleeper carriages. When the travel happens overnight while I’m asleep, I tend not to care how long it takes.
Nothing is better than being able to board the train with free luggage allowance and without all the TSA lines, harassment, confiscations, etc. No wasting of my awake time (unlike air travel). Then waking up at the destination is effectively like zero time wasted.
who? flixbus?
Not Flixbus. It seemed to be a new small startup company who is just dedicated to sleeper trains… I don’t recall the details but it recently got a spotlight.
At 1st I was baffled by your suggestion that Flixbus would be even a candidate, but then recalled that they operate trains too in some regions.
I think it might be this one https://www.europeansleeper.eu
they are also part of eurail, nice!
yeah they do rail too (only as a brand/front) for a company called locomore and seem to be ever expanding since they won the bus wars in the 2010s
Yes, night trains are a great option! Also sometimes much cheaper than day trains.
However, on the few night train trips I took, it didn’t feel so comfortable for me. One time, our train had a scheduled stop for several hours in the middle of the night at some station. There were bright lights all around, and other trains moving; a changing and occasionally very loud soundscape. So I was still all mushy the next day.
Some people seem to have very good experiences, others not so. Overall it’s great this option exist, and there is still room for improvement.