70% of UK's most popular domestic flights 'are faster and cheaper by train'


Ellen Manning
Sun, July 16, 2023 

Some of the most popular domestic flights in the UK could be completed quicker, cheaper and more environmentally friendly by train, a new report has found. (Stock image: Getty)

Most of the nation’s most popular domestic flights and some short-haul European destinations could be completed cheaper and faster by train, according to a new report.

Of the 23 most popular flights to UK and Europe destinations, 70 per cent were faster by rail and 57 per cent were cheaper or the same price, research by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) found.

On top of the time and money savings, switching just a quarter of those domestic flights for rail journeys would save 171,377 tonnes of carbon emissions - equivalent to taking 117,900 cars off the road, researchers found, while switching half of the flights would equate to taking 283,000 cars off the road.

Public transport lobby the CBT is calling for airlines to provide "realistic travelling times" for domestic flights as part of its Fewer Flights Charter aimed at reducing aviation’s carbon emissions.

The CBT is calling for various measures to encourage people to travel by train and to reduce flights. (Stock image: Getty)

Its research showed that flying from London Heathrow to Edinburgh costs between £60 and £300 by air versus £24.90 to £145.70 by rail.

Accounting for travel and processing time in the station or airport, taking the train to the Scottish capital would be 20 minutes quicker than via plane, it found, while the carbon emission for the flight per passenger was 132.35kg versus 14.53kg by train.

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It took less than half the time of a flight to catch a train from Heathrow to Manchester - at two hours and six minutes versus four hours 30 minutes, while each rail passenger would emit 54.94kg less carbon emissions, at just 7.02kg.

In addition, travelling from the same airport to Brussels would take four hours 35 minutes by air but just one hour 53 by rail, with carbon emissions at 54.04kg versus 1.57kg.

The CBT is calling for airlines to publish 'realistic' travel times. (Stock image: Getty)

Silviya Barrett, from Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Travelling by rail within the UK and to the near continent is much more environmentally friendly than flying but also, as our report proves, in many cases cheaper, faster and more economically productive. Yet people simply aren’t aware that this is the case.

"To help incentivise train travel more and reduce carbon emissions from transport, we need to see government policies which ensure rail is always the easier and cheaper option so that more people can choose the train over the plane."

The CBT's report, ‘Plane speaking: moving from journeys from air to rail’ calls for a reduction on the number of flights to cut aviation emissions.

The group’s ten-point manifesto calls on government to require airlines to give passengers realistic travelling times for domestic flights, and force them to publish carbon emissions for domestic flights and the equivalent rail option.

They also want airlines to offer free rail tickets to the airport for passengers taking international flights, to introduce a domestic flight reduction target, set up a tax on domestic aviation fuel, and reverse the cut in Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights.

On top of that, the CBT is calling for a new rate of Air Passenger Duty for all private jet passengers, and for VAT to be applied every private jet flight, as well as penalties for airlines flying empty aircraft unnecessarily, as well as investment in more railway lines and stations and improvements to fares and ticketing.