Open Menu
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
lotide
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
Login

Why are flights in the UK so often cheaper than taking the train?

⁨12⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Wazay@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨unitedkingdom@feddit.uk⁩

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/19/why-are-flights-in-the-uk-so-often-cheaper-than-taking-the-train

source

Comments

Sort:hotnewtop
  • FishFace@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I would love a genuine answer to this question with a proper analysis of costs, subsidies and profit margins, but this article ain’t it. I would guess - but don’t know - that the difference is mainly because the fixed infrastructure of a rail network consists of far more stuff that needs to be built, paid for and maintained than does an airline.

    Also the emissions figure ("double") is way off - a domestic flight is something like 250g of CO2(e) per kilometre (per passenger) whereas a train is about 35g. Source.

    source
  • 73QjabParc34Vebq@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Policy failure

    source