The Campaign for Better Transport says more needs to be done to promote rail as a greener alternative to aviation and is calling for domestic air travel to be outlawed on routes where it would take under five hours to go by rail.

This would mean banning flights such as those connecting London with Manchester and Edinburgh, as well as Birmingham to Glasgow. The call comes after French MPs voted to suspend domestic flights on routes that can be travelled by direct train in less than two and a half hours earlier this year.

The Campaign for Better Transport adds that cheaper train tickets are needed to compete with budget air travel, and says airlines should label their tickets with an emissions comparison between flying and rail to help people make informed choices. The group also calls for a stop to all plans for airport expansion until net zero flights become a reality.

“Cheap domestic flights might seem a good deal when you buy them, but they are a climate disaster, generating seven times more harmful greenhouse emissions than the equivalent train journey,” said chief executive Paul Tuohy.

“Making the train cheaper will boost passenger numbers and help reduce emissions from aviation,” he added. But he warned: “Any cut to air passenger duty – coupled with a rise in rail fares in January – will send the wrong message about how the Government wants people to travel and mean more people choosing to fly.”

The group adds that when check in and landing times are factored in, many domestic aviation journeys are not much faster than travelling by train.

This was demonstrated by Paul Tuohy and his Campaign for Better Transport colleague Norman Baker last week, when they ‘raced’ from London’s Piccadilly Circus to George’s Square in Glasgow by plane and train respectively. Door to door, the plane journey was two minutes quicker but released several times the amount of greenhouse gases, the group claimed.

(Photo: Gatwick Airport)