- On longer distances, night trains will compete essentially with aviation. On shorter distances
night trains do also compete with cars and coaches. However, aviation has far higher emissions
than coaches and most cars;
- While high-speed daytrains could cover distances up to 1,000 km with acceptable journey times,
night trains can cover the same distance or longer at lower speeds with less time “lost” as the
passenger can sleep;
- If high-speed-compatible night trains could use existing high-speed lines particularly in the
evenings and in the mornings they could serve more metropolitan areas than with lower speeds.
A single night train could serve both Madrid and Barcelona on one end and Amsterdam, Brussels
and Paris on the other within an attractive timeframe when using the existing high-speed tracks
on both ends, whereas a slower night train, confined to slower tracks, could only connect
Amsterdam/Brussels with Barcelona skipping Paris. Serving more metropolitan areas means
attracting a higher passenger volume. This will help to make use of the full capacity of a single
night train of up to 700 passengers per train thus using energy and existing infrastructure even
more effectively.
Nevertheless, we have to bear in mind that two-third of aviation emissions in Europe are from extra-EU
flights, which cannot, for most of them, be replaced by trains (e.g. Paris to New York). If you add flights to
all the islands in Europe (Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, Balearic Islands, Canaries, Sardeigna, Greek Islands), rail
can only shi passengers from air to rail to a reduced share of the travels
7
. But, developing night trains is
also about convincing citizens to choose a holiday vacation that is accessible by rail (e.g Berlin to Naples,
and then to Capri) rather than taking a flight to Cancun. Night trains participate in changing the
perception of rail travel, pushing citizens to consider rail instead of aviation for distances beyond 500km.
To do so, night trains must be comfortable, plentiful and most essentially affordable to a wide range of
passengers.
In a poll conducted by Yougov for Europe on Rail
8
, it is found that a large majority in Germany, Poland,
France, Spain and the Netherlands would be willing to use night trains (69%) and that nearly three out of
four respondents (73%) think that rail travel on the same route should generally be cheaper than air
travel. It has also been recently observed that the German and Spanish cheap rail tickets offers have
increased the number of passengers travelling by rail.
9
9
Matalucci, S. (2023, March 26). Subsidised train tickets: Germany and Spain set an exemple. Voxeurop. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from
https://voxeurop.eu/en/subsidised-train-tickets-germany-and-spain-set-an-example/
8
New European public opinion poll shows support for shiing to rail. (2020, March 21). https://europeonrail.eu/. Retrieved June 6, 2023,
from https://europeonrail.eu/portfolio/european-public-opinion-poll-shows-support-for-shiing-flights-to-rail/
7
Transport & Environment (2022). Maximising air to rail journey. Retrieved from:
https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/maximising-air-rail-journeys/