Europe Rail vs. Air: 2025 Pricing Analysis

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Introduction

A Greenpeace report, titled “Flying Cheap, Paying Dear,” has analyzed the pricing of air and rail travel across Europe, revealing that despite some improvements, cheap airfares continue to distort the transport market. The 2025 investigation, which examined 109 routes between 31 nations and 33 domestic routes, found that rail travel was cheaper on 41% of analyzed journeys, an increase from 27% in 2023.

Pricing Analysis

The 2025 investigation compared the low prices of budget air carriers with equivalent train journeys across Europe. The study examined 109 routes between 31 nations, and 33 domestic routes, compared to 112 routes assessed in 2023. Fewer than 50% of all analyzed journeys were cheaper by train. This has improved from 27% in 2023 to 41% in 2025.

Route and Regional Variations

A significant difference was found between cross-border and domestic journeys, with domestic routes more likely to be cheaper by train. The report highlighted that in 2023, the cheapest way to travel from Venice to Budapest involved two Ryanair flights via London. However, in 2025, such high-emission connecting flights were less commonly the cheapest option.

Geographic disparities were also apparent. Western Europe remained weighted towards aviation, but Eastern Europe saw rail as significantly more affordable. France, Italy, Spain and the UK had the largest gaps in 2023, and that trend continued in 2025. For instance, France had 95% of routes more expensive by train on most days. Conversely, the Baltic nations (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) consistently found trains to be cheaper than flying. Poland and Slovenia also had significantly more affordable train travel. In Central Europe (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), approximately 50% of cross-border journeys were more affordable by train, but this varied depending on destination. The study’s limitations included the inability to analyze all domestic travel for every country, due to the size of some nations (where commercial internal flights were not viable, as with Belgium or Montenegro).

Economic Factors

Inflationary pressures have affected airfares more than rail fares in the last two years. This, along with improvements in direct rail connections, has led to some rail journeys remaining stable in price while the equivalent air journey became more expensive.

Taxation and Subsidies

The persistent gap in pricing is largely attributed to tax exemptions for airlines. Airlines pay neither kerosene tax nor VAT on international flights and benefit from subsidies while rail operators face energy taxes, VAT, and high track access charges. A flight from Barcelona to London might cost just €15 while the train could cost up to 26 times more, according to a Greenpeace transport campaigner.

Greenpeace argued that while climate impacts are devastating, governments reward the most polluting form of travel through subsidies and tax exemptions. They called for an end to these tax breaks for aviation, making rail travel affordable and discouraging pollution.

Conclusion

The Greenpeace report indicates a slight positive trend in the comparative pricing of air and rail travel since the 2023 investigation. While rail travel is becoming more competitive, significant disparities remain, largely due to tax and subsidy imbalances favoring airlines. The study examined 109 routes between 31 nations, and 33 domestic routes in 2025.

Company Summary

Ryanair: A budget airline.

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