A recent report by Greenpeace has revealed that travelling to and from the Netherlands by train is 1.5 times more expensive than flying, despite the latter being more polluting. The study

focused on eight international routes to and from Amsterdam and found that on three of these routes, namely London, Nice, and Stockholm, flying was significantly cheaper.

The most heavily used short-haul flight in Europe is the Amsterdam-London route, with over 4.7 million people opting for this mode of transport in 2019. Surprisingly, there are four direct trains available daily for this route, which take only four hours, yet the train ticket price is nearly double that of a plane ticket, with Eurostar prices reaching up to €333.

Greenpeace emphasizes that choosing the train over the plane for this journey could save 216,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of all cars in Groningen. However, this direct train service is set to be suspended for several months due to ongoing work at Amsterdam's central station.

Additionally, the report found that the Nice-Amsterdam route was the most expensive international train route for the Netherlands, costing on average three times as much as a flight. For Amsterdam-Stockholm, a train ticket would be 2.5 times more expensive than a flight and would take over 17 hours.

While the train was cheaper on some days for routes to and from Copenhagen, Prague, Ljubljana, and Berlin, it remained more expensive on average. Even the Berlin-Amsterdam train journey would cost 38% more than flying, with the fastest day journey taking 6 hours and 16 minutes.

Greenpeace highlights that train routes through the Netherlands and Germany would be particularly beneficial for the climate since both countries use 100% renewable energy to power their trains.

The only train route that was consistently cheaper was Amsterdam-Warsaw, but the best connection would take over 13 hours and involve two changes. Furthermore, the report noted that tickets for most trains to Poland and other destinations cannot be purchased four months in advance, making flying more convenient.

The study, which compared the costs of flight and train tickets on 112 routes across Europe, found that train tickets were on average twice as expensive as flight tickets. The low-cost airlines had a significant share in this disparity.

Greenpeace calls for a "fair taxation system" for airlines and the introduction of affordable "climate tickets" for all public transport, similar to those available in Germany, Spain, and France.

Dutch News previously reported that train tickets purchased in the Netherlands are more expensive than in neighboring countries like Belgium and Germany, even for cross-border connections.

Despite the increasing concern over climate change among Dutch citizens, only a small percentage consider the climate impact of their transport choices when planning holidays and long-distance travel, as indicated by a recent survey by the European Commission. Photo by Rob Dammers, Wikimedia commons.