Just checked:
Return flights to Paris from London for two adults: £107
Return Eurostar train to Paris from London for two adults: £676
I would gladly take a train as I find it a far more relaxing way to travel but the numbers just don't add up.
Return flights to Paris from London for two adults: £107
Return Eurostar train to Paris from London for two adults: £676
I would gladly take a train as I find it a far more relaxing way to travel but the numbers just don't add up.
- Eurostar trains run from central London; cheap flights leave from Luton, Stansted, and Gatwick, none of which are close to London, and which therefore all potentially require a time-consuming extra transfer, at some additional cost.
- if you have flexibility on time and book a little in advance, one-way Eurostar tickets for one adult can be found for ~£50, and easily for less than £100.
So it’s more like ~£107 versus ~£200-400, if you live near a relevant airport, or in central London, respectively.
—-
Of course, this still doesn’t explain why running a train should be several times more expensive than a plane. I’m not sure the absence of environmental taxes (as argued in the article) is the full explanation- this sounds more like a mechanism to force price parity, rather than the root cause?
* the Channel Tunnel has very high access charges (because construction was very expensive, and as a private entity it took on a lot of debt and wants to pay that off!), and
* the terminals in both London and Paris are too small for the time taken by border control now the UK is no longer in the EU (which has led to Eurostar running fewer trains—but the demand has hardly decreased).
22-24 March, Copenhagen to Berlin and back, one adult:
€210 by train.
€170 by plane (no luggage added).
The plane is much faster, but I can get work done on the train. Both cities have cheap public transport connections between the centre and the airport.
If you’re flexible on departure time - Eurostar offer £35pp tickets
https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/find-lowest-fares
Less convenient, certainly but this does narrow that gap
- Plane, Veuling, €320
- Train, Eurostar, €510
The preceding weekend has slightly cheaper flights from "London" Southend airport.
One thing that is really annoying with traveling in EU via train is that there is no simple way to book tickets even with InterRail/EuroRail app. I did a vacation where i traveled around between Netherlands, Germany, Denmark Sweden and Poland back and forth and if you want a reserved seat you have to order it in advance for Poland and have your paper tickets sent to you in your home country 2 weeks in advance.
If you are in Poland you can do reservations the same day.
An other problem with reservations is that they are only for the train you have reserved on, and in Germany and Denmark there is a high probability that your train will be delayed to the point of being replaced with a train with fewer cabins, meaning you won't have a seat.
Might not sound like a big deal but on a trip from Copen hagen to Berlin that is 7 hours or a trip from Berlin to Katowice that is 8 hours, not having a seat is fast becomming an issue.
You simply wont get business people to travel with trains like that. EU seems to have made the decision that inter european travel by train is for young people in their early 20s and goods containers.
But within European countries the internal travels are usually not a problem and quite nice. Except in Southern Sweden. The commuter trains are a complete mess and has been ever since it was privatized.
I printed the ticket as I was in the office. Some other passengers were showing phones, but I don't know if that was the same thing.
(Remember when a flight is delayed, if the next one is full you simply don't travel. Standing or moving between seats can be preferable.)
(no affiliation, just a fan of the site)