Travel in France: train cheaper than plane, except for certain connections between regions

Train ticket prices may sometimes seem exorbitant, but traveling by rail in France is on average cheaper than by plane, barring connections, according to reports published Thursday. And air travel remains unbeatable for travel within Europe. These are all arguments for rebalancing measures in the name of climate change.

The French consumer protection association UFC-Que Choisir looked at the prices of rail, air and road travel in France, taking as a basis the 48 busiest air routes in the country and following two typical scenarios: "a summer holiday for a couple or a family with two teenagers, and a weekend for two adults."

"The train proves competitive when there are direct rail links, particularly on radial routes (from or to Paris). In the summer scenario, 60% of journeys are cheaper by train than by plane. On these routes, the train is on average half the price of the plane," according to the UFC.

"Conversely, in both the first and second scenarios, many cross-country connections (province to province), especially when a change of train is necessary, turn out to be cheaper by plane, by 37% on average," the association specifies. This is the case, for example, for Bordeaux-Nice, Nantes-Strasbourg or Biarritz-Lyon. This assessment is similar to that made by Le Parisien two years ago .

"As for the car, it is especially attractive in the family scenario: a third of the journeys are the least expensive, compared to the train and the plane, by 30% on average compared to the train and 44% compared to the plane."

"To make the train a truly accessible and universal alternative option," UFC-Que Choisir recommends, among other things, "strengthening the rail offering," particularly across the board, increasing the threshold for banning domestic flights to 4 hours when an alternative rail route exists, compared to 2.5 hours currently, and "establishing advantageous fares for families."

In the midst of the climate emergency, the UFC points out that "over long distances, the train is by far the most virtuous mode of transport ", quoting Ademe: "A TGV journey emits on average only 2.9 g of CO2 per passenger-kilometer, compared to around 331 g for short-distance flights and up to 256 g for a car used alone (128 g for two passengers and 64 g for four passengers)."

The Climate Action Network (RAC), citing a Greenpeace report expected this summer, has extended the issue to European routes, where "the train is on average 2.5 times more expensive than the plane," a "total aberration" according to the group.

"On the Paris-Rome route, which carries more than 2 million air passengers each year, the cheapest plane ticket is around 70 euros on average, compared to 210 euros for a train ticket," notes the RAC.

The latter, in order to rebalance competition, advocates for "the end of air tax loopholes" by increasing the tax on airline tickets to a level that would compensate for the absence of tax on kerosene.

The RAC would thus like to finance the subsidy of one train ticket per year at a reduced price (29 euros return) for "all French people", "really" relaunch night trains, in particular links between regions, and lower rail tolls for the TGV, which reduce its competitiveness.