Why is it important?
In a globalised world where travelling has become an every-day activity and air travel is considered a social norm, aviation has become one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, currently contributing to 2.4% of global CO2e emissions(1). By 2050, this share could increase to 22%(2). When including non-CO2 effects (mainly formation of persistent contrails and atmospheric reactions driven by NOx emissions), aviation contributed to 4% of the global temperature increase since pre-industrial times.(3) At a sectorial level, professional travel represents 7% of the total carbon footprint of the international aid sector(4).
Trains are significantly less carbon intensive, producing between seven and more than 40 times fewer emissions than airplanes.(5) For many short- to medium-haul trips, trains are cost-effective and even faster when accounting for airport procedures and the time it takes to get into the city centre from an airport. For example, by shifting half of UK domestic flights to rail, nearly 410,000 tonnes of carbon annually would be saved, equivalent to removing 283,000 cars from the road.(6)
What's the solution?
When a trip is essential and cannot be avoided, the train should be considered as the privileged option. To facilitate the switch from air to train travel, organisations should set rules that prioritise train (or bus) travel over flights for professional trips when possible. Encouraging and facilitating the use of night trains can also be beneficial for long-distance travel. Short-haul flights should be replaced with train journeys to minimise unnecessary aviation emissions. It is important to define acceptable cost increases for choosing train travel and provide incentives to facilitate its adoption. Finally, and booking tools to support combined plane and train tickets will streamline the process and reinforce the commitment to greener travel options.
Point of attention
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Point of attention: cost of train travel
Flying remains a popular option for many due to the competitive ticket prices on the market. Significant subsidies allow airlines to offer low prices, particularly by low-cost carriers. However, these cheap flights come with high environmental and social costs, including climate impact, worker exploitation, and biodiversity loss. This creates an unfair competitive landscape that disadvantages Europe’s railways, which face challenges like complex and inconsistent cross-border ticketing systems and pricing depending on the operator, the unavailability of train tickets more than a few months in advance for some companies, and the necessity to book multiple tickets with different operators. Currently, the regulatory framework favours airlines over rails: these challenges underscore the need for more structural changes and policy interventions.(7)
Key actions
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#1 Set rules for trips
Create rules in of the organisation, that bans or limits travel by plane given a certain distance or time, in which travelling by train should be mandatory. Prefer train (including night train) or bus travel over flights if the travel time difference is less than 4 hours city center to city center or within a 1000km radius. Align the booking tool and approval process.
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#2 Encourage and facilitate the use of night trains
Night trains could replace many flights within Europe. Using night trains also saves on hotel bills.
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#3 Replace short haul connecting flights with train travel
In a best practice scenario, considering network availability and geographical context, organisations should shift all flights and connecting flights shorter than 300 km to rail, with partial shifts for journeys up to 1000 km when possible.(11)
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#4 Define a threshold for acceptable cost increases
Although train tickets may be sometimes more expensive than airplane tickets, employees should be able to book a train that comes with a price increase up to a certain threshold, for example, 20%(12). While higher price increases should be subject to management approval it is important to consider cost savings from reducing air travel.
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#5 Book in advance
Encourage and incentivise early booking of train trips as prices will be lower than when booking last meeting.
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#6 Provide incentives for rail travel
Reimburse additional overnight costs for choosing the most eco-friendly travel option (train, bus, or car for groups of more than 4 people(13)). Rail discount cards (e.g., railcard, half-fare card, advantage card, climate ticket) should be made available to all employees free of charge; these can also be used privately. Define in your travel policy for which journeys 1st class train journeys can be reimbursed (e.g. over x km or over y hours.)
To consider
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Potential co-benefits
- Enhanced efficiency: Trains often provide faster boarding and fewer delays compared to air travel, resulting in shorter overall travel times.
- Cost-effective solutions: While some train tickets may be more expensive, overall savings can be achieved by reducing associated travel expenses (like airport transfers and baggage fees).
- Employee satisfaction: More comfortable travel conditions and less stress from airport procedures can lead to higher employee morale and productivity.
- Strengthened reputation: Committing to sustainable travel enhances the company’s reputation as a responsible organisation.
- Improved work-life balance: Train travel can allow for a better work-life balance, with employees able to work or relax during journeys without the pressures of flying.
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Success conditions
- Management support: Engagement from management is crucial to drive the initiative and ensure resources are allocated effectively.
- Reliable rail infrastructure: A well-developed and maintained rail network is essential for reliable service.
- Access to high-speed options: Availability of high-speed rail services significantly increases the appeal of train travel for longer distances.
- Clear travel policies: Well-defined travel policies that incentivise rail use and outline reimbursement procedures can guide employee choices.
- Employee training: Educating employees on the benefits and logistics of rail travel can foster acceptance and enthusiasm to go further.
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Prerequisites & specificities
- Availability of routes: Trains must be available to key destinations where employees travel frequently.
- Integration with other transport: Connections to local public transport systems facilitate seamless travel from home to the train station and beyond.
- Budget allocation: Proper financial resources should be dedicated to support the transition and cover any additional costs.
- Monitoring systems: Implementation of tracking systems to measure the environmental impact of travel choices helps ensure accountability.
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Potential risks
- Inadequate train services: Limited train options may not meet the needs of all employees, particularly in remote areas.
- Higher costs for specific routes: Some long-distance or high-speed train services may have higher fares compared to budget airlines.
- Resistance to change: Employees accustomed to air travel may be hesitant to embrace rail options.
- Service disruptions: Weather or maintenance issues can lead to operational challenges and delays in train services.
Tools and good practices
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Climate Action Accelerator, Professional Travel Toolkit, 2024
The Climate Action Accelerator has developed a professional travel toolkit to help organisations implement their travel emissions reduction target.
Read here -
EU back on track, Night train Map EU, 2024
The list is an excerpt of Open Night Trains Database, a project to collect and automatically enrich additional information about the currently running night trains – as also displayed in a Night Train Map.
Explore here -
Chronotrain, Where can you go by train in 8h?
The tool enables users to visualize all the different locations accessible by train in a given time constraint (1, 2, all the way to 8 hours). Chronotrain then suggests a list of booking tools directly linked to the website.
Explore here -
University Amsterdam, Comparative table of travel times between plane and train
The interactive decision tree for sustainable travel decision-making, includes a list of “Train versus Plane” itineraries with differences in travel time, emissions, and transfers per different European destination.
Explore here -
Ecopassenger, Travel mode emissions comparator 2024
The tool compares the energy consumption, the CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts for planes, cars and trains in passenger transport. EcoPassenger provides clear understanding about the carbon footprint of each mode, essential information to develop policies on climate change impact of transport. The tool displays output results based on transparent and scientifically supported methodologies
Explore here -
OMIO, Travel comparator per travel mode 2024
The travel planner offers different alternatives especially by train, bus, flights and ferries for a same journey. Comparing tickets prices and different companies.
Explore here -
SNCF, Financial incentives and corporate offers, 2024
SNCF offers price packages for corporate travel, offering financial incentive to switch to rail from air travel. This includes city-to-city journeys, as well as downloadable corporate carbon balances calculating the difference in environmental footprints generated by choosing to take the train rather than airplane.
Explore here -
Travel Smart Campaign, From plane to train checklist
The document contains an action checklist, case studies, and a decision-tree. Key subjects include the development of train policies, leveraging travel agents, and influencing employee behaviour change.
Read here
To go further
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Greenpeace, Get on Track, Train alternatives to short-haul flights in Europe, 2021
Greenpeace provides a map of top routes where train alternatives under 6 hours exist. For instance, 29% of the top European 250 routes (EU+NO+UK +CH) can be travelled in under 6 hours by train (see mal & list in link). Recommendations on travel decision-making, as well as emission comparisons based on transport choice is given. This helps define an organisations’ policy thresholds for air travel and in finding less carbon intensive or more efficient alternatives (includes night trains, short-haul travels, etc.).
Explore here -
European Environment Agency, Train or Plane? 2020
The report evaluates train and plane travel, highlighting that rail is generally the most sensible option after walking or cycling.
Explore here -
Greenpeace, Ticket prices of planes vs trains: a Europe wide analysis, 2023
By analysing 112 European routes and comparing air and rail fares on 9 different days for each route, this report shows the extent to which European citizens are being encouraged to fly. It also identifies the reasons for these price differences and proposes solutions to make rail competitive on all routes
Explore here -
Stay Grounded, We have to talk about flying! 2024
The website provides a comprehensive overview of the environmental impact of aviation, emphasizing its significant contribution to climate change and the various issues related to it.
Explore here
Acknowledgements
Last updated 20 August 2024
Share your success stories, suggestions, and comments with us! contact@climateactionaccelerator.org
Sources
(1) International Panel on Climate Change, ‘Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’, chapter 10.5.1, 2022. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(2) N. Dolsak, ‘Different approaches to reducing aviation emissions: reviewing the structure-agency debate in climate policy’, Nature Portfolio, 2022. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(3) M. Klower, ‘Quantifying aviation’s contribution to global warming’, Environmental research, 2021. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(4) Climate Action Accelerator, ‘Roadmap for halving emissions in the humanitarian sector by 2030 a path to climate-smart humanitarian action’, 2024. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(5) ‘Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2023’, gov.uk, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(6) Campaign for Better Transport, ‘Plane speaking, Moving journeys from air to rail’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(7) Greenpeace, ‘Ticket prices of planes vs trains a Europe-wide analysis’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(8) Greenpeace, ‘Ticket prices of planes vs trains a Europe-wide analysis’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(9) Transport and Environment, ‘Maximising air to rail journeys’, 2020. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(10) Transport and Environment, ‘Maximising air to rail journeys’, 2020. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(11) Transport and Environment, ‘Maximising air to rail journeys’, 2020. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(12) Greenpeace, ‘Ticket prices of planes vs trains a Europe-wide analysis’, 2023. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
(13) YouMatter, ‘You Matter Planes Or Cars – Which Pollutes The Most? Which Is More Sustainable?’, 2020. Available here (accessed 21 August 2024).
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Cover photo: Mike Kotsch/Unsplash