Dawn of a new era for train travel
Saturday December 13 2008
The year 2009 is tipped to be the year of the train. Faced with fierce competition from the railways and the launch of a new generation of high-speed trains, Europe's airlines are taking to the tracks in an effort to win back customers.
Air France-KLM is putting the finishing touches to its so-called 'airplanes on wheels'. By the end of next year, the giant airline will be ready to launch its own international rail service linking Paris to London and Amsterdam, in smart new trains that carry up to 900 passengers at a time and do a routine speed of up to 360km an hour (224mph) -- 60km (38mph) faster than the country's current TGVs.
At these speeds, passengers could commute from Paris to London in less than an hour and a half -- significantly faster than the time it takes to fly when security and distances between city centres and airports are taken into account.
On January 1, 2010, the EU will liberalise rail traffic laws that currently prevent train companies from operating services across Europe's internal borders. This will transform the way continental Europeans travel, giving them much greater choice and a vast new range of routes from Portugal to Poland.
It's almost 15 years since Eurostar launched its London to Paris service in the Channel Tunnel, revolutionising rail travel and bringing the two capitals within four hours' reach of each other by train. Today, that journey time has been halved, and Air France plans to cut it even further.
Across the continent -- in Spain, Italy and Germany -- new high-speed rail services are coming on stream in response to soaring demand for train travel.
As airlines limp through the economic downturn, persecuted by fluctuating oil prices, travelling by rail is increasingly seen as a cheaper, cleaner and faster form of transport. Eurostar saw its passenger numbers rise by more than 18pc in the first half of 2008.
Budget flights may well become a thing of the past in the coming year as Europe's airlines consolidate, offering less competition and making train journeys even more attractive to travellers.
Richard Branson's airline, Virgin, is also looking at establishing a high-speed link across Britain, while German operator Deutsche Bahn is considering a route from London to Cologne. From there, passengers would be able to zip over to Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin.
All we need now is a bridge across the Irish Sea to make it worthwhile for those of us stuck on this island.
Who knows? Maybe a company called Ryanrail will come along and build it.
- Gemma O'Doherty
