May 2020

BY TRAIN OR PLANE ?

UBS – The Swiss Bank recently published research predicting that post Covid-19 more people are expected to switch travel from air to high-speed rail. They estimate that rail will be competitive for leisure journeys taking up to 6 hours and business travel up to 4 hours.

STATE AID FOR TRANSPORT POST COVID-19 :

We say that all state aid provided should be conditional on limiting competition between Rail and Air. We were pleased to here that the French Government recently announced conditions on State aid to Air France KLM. They will be restricted in the number of domestic flights they can schedule. This will be for journeys taking up to 2hrs.30 mins where there is a rail alternative.

EU TO FINANCE STUDY ON NIGHT TRAINS:

DG-MOVE have invited bids for a pilot project on the re-vitalisation of night trains. The winning bid will spend up to 500,000 Euros to identify obstacles preventing more night trains and cross border long-distance passenger services. Bids have be submitted by the 7th July and the study has to be completed within 9 months.Hopefully this study will also provide some practical solutions.