Why more people are choosing trains over planes

According to the Times today British holiday makers are shunning planes in favour of travelling by rail.

The BAA reported that it handled less passengers at 4 of its airports (which include Heathrow and Stansted) than the same month last year. Plus all of its airports, excluding Gatwick, operated fewer flights. Until this year flyers were increasing year on year, but suddenly this has changed.

Some of this may be due to the issues at Heathrow Terminal 5, pushing some customers over to Gatwick which may be while their figures remain constantly increasing.

There may be reasons such as the delays that occur on flights abroad. According to recent statistics 4 out of 10 flights run 10 -15 minutes late, and once you've added in the extra long check in times and the worry of losing luggage you can understand why some people prefer to travel at a more leisurely pace. It could be said as the story of the Hare and the Tortoise.

"Figures released this week by the CAA show that the average delay on an arriving flight at Heathrow is now 20 minutes, a 25 per cent increase from 2003," said a spokesman for the Future Heathrow group. "In comparison, average delays at Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle are less than 15 minutes, despite having more flights than Heathrow."

Eurostar claim to have had a 21 percent rise in passenger numbers going to continental Europe over the last quarter. Some of this could of course been attributed to the opening of St Pancras station and the marketing effort that Eurostar has put into launching the new service.

The other factor in increased rail journeys could well be the environmental factor. Eurostar now claims to be Carbon Neutral, which of course no flights can ever claim to be.

Going back to the Tortoise and the Hare story, I feel this can only be the biggest factor, with shorter journey times now to Paris and Brussels at only just over 2 hours, flights have no chance in competing once you've factored in checkins and then getting in to the centre of the cities. Plus of course European train operators are far more efficient than British trains and therefore onward journeys to the South of France, Spain and further afield are a piece of cake.

Handy books
Thomas Cook European Train Timetable