This week is one of the busiest times to travel in the UK, as millions of Brits head home for Christmas or out of the country on festive breaks. Even though flying is five times more polluting than taking the train on average, airlines continue to post artificially low prices that don't factor in the pollution they cause, Greenpeace noted.
Paul Morozzo, transport campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “Unless you own a herd of reindeer and a magical sleigh, the cheapest mode of transport this Christmas is likely to be a polluting flight. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A lack of investment in railways and ticketing, and a failure to properly tax carbon emissions, have created a nightmare before Christmas where consumers are effectively being rewarded for polluting.”
Researchers found that taking the train on seven of the most popular UK routes was almost twice (1.7x) the average cost of flying. But the average price of a train ticket soared to 4.2 times that of a flight for 15 popular destinations in Europe, including Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, as well as the Christmas market cities of Prague, Budapest, Copenhagen, and Cologne.
As well as the price gap, the research showed that booking a flight was often simpler and more flexible than buying train tickets, particularly on trips outside the UK. While there are direct flights to all 15 popular in Europe, only three of them have a direct rail link (Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris). Most rail journeys also require travelers to buy at least two separate tickets from different train companies – or three if not starting from London.
Morozzo added: “For the sake of the climate we need to get people out of planes and into trains. We need to level the playing field by bringing in a frequent flyer levy and by ending the unfair subsidies and tax exemptions enjoyed by the aviation sector. This needs to happen in parallel with an increase in capacity on our rail network to facilitate more demand.”
According to Greenpeace, airlines can keep their prices low because they pay no kerosene tax or VAT, and have even received a recent reduction in Air Passenger Duty in the UK. By contrast, train operators must pay energy taxes, VAT, and high rail tolls in most European countries – although no VAT in the UK.
Greenpeace is calling on the UK government to increase the costs of flying regularly through a frequent flyer levy. It should also phase out the tax exemption on kerosene, as well as subsidies and indirect support for airlines and airports such as new infrastructure. At the same time Greenpeace believes that climate tickets should be introduced that reduce the cost of train travel and boost convenience and interconnectivity. Finally, it notes that for climate reasons, all short-haul flights where there is a suitable train alternative should be banned.