During travels in Europe, eco-friendly trains can often be more expensive than flying by plane. Greenpeace, an environmental organization, conducted a study comparing ticket prices for both modes of transportation on 112 routes at various booking times across Europe. The results showed that trains are 71 percent more expensive than flights that harm the environment, as announced by the organization on Thursday. Among the 31 routes starting or ending in Germany, the train was more expensive in half of the cases.
The testers found that the price difference between train and plane tickets on the Barcelona-London route was the most significant. The train ticket should cost up to 384 euros, 30 times more expensive than a plane ticket priced at 12.99 euros. However, trains on the Hamburg-Brussels and Hamburg-Munich routes were consistently less costly.
Greenpeace experts believe a Europe-wide kerosene tax of 50 cents per liter should be implemented. This tax would generate 46.2 billion euros in annual revenue, which should be directed toward improving railway infrastructure. The experts argue that many people now travel by train instead of flying. Still, the absence of a kerosene tax and other climate-damaging subsidies for the airline industry causes price distortions. This situation is hindering efforts toward climate protection and undermining positive intentions.