Train travel around Christmas is on average twice as expensive as climate-damaging air travel – environmental protection organizations are calling for affordable train tickets and the introduction of a kerosene tax
Vienna (OTS) – Christmas time is travel time. Greenpeace took this as an opportunity to compare train and flight prices for the 15 most popular travel routes to and from Vienna. It turns out that train journeys are on average 95 percent more expensive than corresponding flights. The sad leader is the Vienna-Barcelona route, where train tickets are on average five times more expensive than air travel. On average, air travel is five times more harmful to the climate. Greenpeace denounces the extremely distorted pricing policy and calls on the EU to abolish tax advantages for climate-damaging air travel as well as measures to ensure affordable rail prices for everyone.
“250 million people in Europe travel to visit their families or on vacation around the holidays. There are still numerous tax loopholes for low-cost airlines, which can engage in a real price war – but the climate is left behind. In order to make it easier for people across Europe to choose climate-friendly travel, the EU must roll up its sleeves and finally ensure that costs are true. The first important steps towards this are the introduction of a kerosene tax and the abolition of the rail toll,” says Marc Dengler, climate and energy expert at Greenpeace in Austria.
A total of 15 routes to and from Vienna were analyzed at three different times. There are regular direct flights from Vienna on all fifteen routes examined. Direct train connections, however, only serve eleven cities. Only for trips to Berlin, Zagreb and Zurich was the train always cheaper than a flight. This was most clearly seen on the Vienna-Zagreb route, where tickets were on sale for an average of 40 euros even at Christmas time.
The train is the most climate-friendly means of long-distance transport and causes on average 80 percent fewer climate-damaging emissions per passenger kilometer than flying. Nevertheless, the railway is systematically disadvantaged. International flight tickets are exempt from VAT and no tax is charged on kerosene. Greenpeace is calling for a legal framework that makes climate-friendly mobility the most cost-effective choice. To achieve this, subsidies for airports and airlines must be eliminated and a Europe-wide fuel tax introduced, such as the one the German federal government is already planning for domestic flights. In order to make rail travel more affordable, VAT on train travel must be abolished and family and social tariffs expanded.
Factsheet: https://act.gp/4amULCV
Questions & Contact:
Marc Dengler
Climate and energy expert
Greenpeace in Austria
Tel: +43 (0) 664 881 722 05
Email: marc.dengler@greenpeace.org
Annette Stolz
Press spokesperson
Greenpeace in Austria
Tel.: + 43 (0) 664 61 26 725
Email: annette.stolz@greenpeace.org