Despite renewed investment in long-distance rail, train travel in Europe still often costs significantly more than flying, according to a new Greenpeace analysis. The environmental group found that cross-border train journeys can be up to 26 times more expensive than flights, though Austria stands out as a country where rail is sometimes the cheaper option.
For its study, Greenpeace compared prices on 142 travel routes across Europe, including 109 international ones. The results show that in more than 60 percent of cross-border cases, flying was cheaper than taking the train. On domestic routes, however, trains were the better deal 70 percent of the time.
Air travel is a major contributor to climate change. The German Aerospace Center estimates aviation is responsible for about 3.5 percent of global warming, not only through carbon emissions but also from aerosols, nitrogen oxides, and the large-scale impact of contrails.
In Austria, Greenpeace looked at 14 routes, including Vienna–Innsbruck, where the train was consistently cheaper. Rail was also more affordable for journeys to Germany, Zurich, Ljubljana, and Warsaw. But travelers paid more for train rides to destinations such as Paris, Copenhagen, Venice, Bucharest, and Brussels—routes dominated by low-cost carrier Ryanair, which benefits from Vienna’s low airport fees. The steepest disparity was on London–Vienna, where a train ticket cost €267, nearly 13 times more than a flight.
Elsewhere in Europe, France ranked worst for rail affordability: on 95 percent of studied routes, trains were more expensive than flights. Spain, Italy, and the UK showed similar patterns. On the London–Barcelona route, a train ticket at €390 was up to 26 times the price of a flight. By contrast, in the Baltic states, Poland, and Slovenia, trains were consistently cheaper.
“Airlines profit from unfair tax privileges while train passengers are left paying the price,” said Greenpeace mobility expert Jasmin Duregger. The group is calling for a kerosene tax, higher levies on business- and first-class flights, and the removal of value-added tax on international train tickets. Greenpeace also urged the creation of a unified European rail ticketing system to make cross-border train travel easier and more affordable.
