Europe and the Case For Train Travel

Airlines across the globe have experienced nothing but setbacks since 9/11. From burdensome new security measures to high-profile crashes and plummeting revenues, air travel’s reputation and financial foundations have been severely damaged. And thus what’s been considered a mode of transport of the past is now becoming the travel of the future – many are turning to high-speed trains as a better alternative to flying. And no one does it better than the Europeans.

Tightly clustered European nations have used high-speed train travel for years. Brussels to Paris, Paris to London, London to Glasgow – an endless permutation of routes has emerged in the past two decades. Today, however, is Spain’s day to shine as it looks to soon become the world leader in high-speed train travel, measured in kilometers of track line. Even longer domestic routes like the one from Madrid to Barcelona are being lauded by an increasing group of passengers who cite the reliability, speed and comfort of the trains.

Passengers also say that while actual train rides are much longer than plane rides, time is saved door-to-door because the long ride to and from the airport and extensive security screenings are cut.

While it’s undeniably easier to travel by train from Berlin to Paris than it is from say, New York to San Francisco, the world is so fed up with air travel and so enticed by the ease of a train ride that even American cities are being linked by high-speed lines. Six high-speed routes proposed by President Obama have already been approved, many of them linking cities clustered in such a way that air routes are too short but car rides far too long.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is particularly impressed by Europe’s railroad ambitions, writing about his experience in France, Germany and Spain on his blog. The consensus on train travel is remarkably clear-cut, he says.

“State governors support it. Newspapers support it. Even Fox Business News has smiled on it,” LaHood wrote. “It is game-changing, and it is happening now.”