How Europe's Replacing Planes With Trains

How Europe Plans To Replace Planes With Trains

Europe is building a huge high speed rail network connecting almost the entire continent. If successful, plane usage will drop by insane levels. This is how they plan to do it.

[ScaryHutmanPictures]

Can't wait to go on a train trip through Austria-Hungary 0:39

[magnumpus]

2:40 Why is the Estonian flag in Poland, the Latvian flag in Lithuania and the Lithuanian flag in Latvia?

[adamschmidt]

Imagine a Europe with Shinkansen class rail across the whole continent. What a beautiful future that would be

[misopasko]

So happy that Bratislava got included in 3 main European routes. It is so important for Slovakia

[Spllwrk]

That Berlin-Munich railway is actually insane already. I used to drive this route at least once a month. Horrible traffic jams out of munich.. especially when you just want to get home to your family on friday and at least a 6 hour drive (if you're willing to use the NO-Speedlimit regulations ... driving fast is exhausting!) .. ofthen you need 8 hours, sometimes more.

Now you can just WALK from the office to your train, sit back, relax and be in Berlin around 4 hours later

[thomasgray]

One thing people forget is building high speed lines will allow more space on regular main lines for commuter and local services.

[Vinny]

It’s crazy because in Europe, Ryan air tickets are usually cheaper than train tickets.

[arx]

Also remember that boarding a train is much faster procedure, and train stations are right in the center of the city, while airports are usually several km away. Once you get off the train you're already in the city, you don't need a taxi. Trains are also more relaxing, if you watch outside tye window you can enjoy the countryside.

[thpeti]

As I got a job in the Netherlands, and I lived in Budapest before, so I've tried several options. Plane: last year I had to wait 4 hours for the security check in Schipol, then my 250eur 2-hours KLM flight delayed by 2 hours, standing on the runway full of passengers. (cheapest Wizzair option is around eur60-80 from Eindhoven). By car: I have to stop at a friend's in Germany to have a rest. Two days, about eur150 spent on fuel, plus tolls. Train: varies from eur80 to eur200, depending on the season and the connection, but from Amsterdam to Vienna, there's a comfortable Nightjet service from öbb. If you're not quick enough on booking, even the most expensive eur160-eur200 places with alacarte breakfast are gone. I ended up travelling by train, as no more security checks, and I can carry as much luggage as I'm able to carry myself. In Holland, my rental apartment is just 5mins from a station, and in Budapest, I can also access the central station easily by public transport. The whole trip is about 1400km. Please, EU, taxate kerosine as car fuels, and make the booking of rail tickets easier, as I sometimes have to book at different providers for the connections.

[Vlodya]

1:11 that is actually a 78, 9% decrease since you usually divide by the former value

[Serocco]

Trains are better than cars and planes tbh

[realhawaiio]

0:39 casually uses a modernised 1913 map, lol

[ankledsquid]

Tbh i think the main problem is the ticketing. If you could just book whatever journey with one ticket, even if you had to change trains...it would make the travel much easier and less risky in terms of connections

[einfachhenry]

1:11 You might want to go and check your numbers there again. A decrease of more than 100% would be truly groundbreaking..

[StephenSmith-geqf]

The Italian high speed network is excellent. I live very near the Swiss border, and thus I can catch local trains to Milan, and from there to Rome, Napoli and the south, or to Venice and thus Trieste. Or to Lyon and Paris. I can also get a bus across the border to Lugano and catch services to Zurich and from there to Germany and Berlin, or to Munich and beyond. Love train travel, and the tickets are easily bookable in advance and affordable on most routes.

[Brauiz]

I'm traveling by train since my childhood... I always prefer trains because they're comfortable, you can walk free in them and you can use bistro/restaurant cars on most long distance trains. On a flight you're seatbound most of the time. Sure, planes are faster, when you take flight time only... I live in Salzburg, Austria and a flight from there to Leipzig, visiting my family there, would be with a change in Frankfurt (1 hour stay there) and would cost a minimum of 360€ - going by train has a maximum price of 140€ on the direct route with one change in Munich... full travel time by train? 5 hours 30 minutes or 6 hours, depending on which train is used from Salzburg to Munich (long-distance trains like DB's Intercity/Eurocity or ÖBB's Railjet or the private Westbahn is 30 minutes faster then the private BRB RE5 with many more stops...)

[soulbeats]

In Austria you can buy a year ticket for less than 1000€ and it gives you access to every train ride within the country. I think a standardized year ticket within the EU, which just lets you use every train ride in every EU country would massively boost train use. I know there are problems, but you could theoretically trip from sweden to portugal if you have the flexibility ( you could do computer work on the train, which you cant driving a car, so you dont have to waste your time on the ride).

Trains with Wifi can be a really comfortable experience

[pinetriestofly]

2:38
Firstly, you got Latvia and Lithuania the wrong way round
Secondly, you put the Estonian flag in Poland.
Thirdly, the route does not go through Lithuania's capital. It goes through the second largest city, Kaunas. The capital (and largest city) is Vilnius.

[sagichnicht]

The map shown when Rail Baltica is mentioned does not actually show the actual corridor alignment which will be built. Riga and Tallinn will be connected almost by a straight line via Pärnu. I think the map is showing an old alternative alignment. IMHO that more direct alignment was a good decision.

[jonw]

One other perk: easy stopovers along a route right in the city center. I love hopping off exploring a city then hopping back on and resuming my journey