Why flying from France is often cheaper than taking the train

A report from a French environmental organisation has broken down why it usually costs less to fly from France to other European destinations than to travel by train, despite the latter’s lower carbon footprint.

Published by Réseau Action Climat, the report found that on the six most popular routes between France and Europe rail travel is consistently between 2.3 and three times more expensive.

Both train operators and airlines use variable pricing according to criteria they make themselves, and which change all the time, making comparisons difficult.

However, for domestic travel the authors found it is now cheaper to travel by rail in France – as long as you do not have to change trains.

“Where there is a direct rail link, trains are around 40% cheaper,” the report said, “but when you need to change trains, the train is 10% more expensive than flying because prices double.”

In terms of cross-border travel, the example is given of a Paris-Barcelona trip, based on calculations by the firm Carbone 4. 

It is the second most popular air route in Europe (2.58 million passengers in 2024), but can also easily be covered by train – at an average cost some 20% higher than conventional flights, and up to 86% higher than a low-cost flight.

Explaining the disparity, researchers cited tolls imposed on railway companies to fund maintenance of the rail system.

On the Paris-Barcelona line, for example, SNCF must pay a fee to both the French and Spanish rail network operators to use the 1,050km of track. Added to this is a toll for using the Perthus Tunnel, amounting to around €6.10 per passenger for just 8km.

As a result, it costs an average of €186 to travel to Barcelona from Paris, while the Paris-Perpignan route, which is only 200km shorter, costs €84.

For SNCF, tolls on the line account for 40% of the cost of running a TGV train.

Tax loopholes

Adding to the disparity in price is what the report calls “anachronic tax exemptions” on aircraft fuel.

Train companies have to pay a tax to use electricity, called TIFCE, and also, in some countries, VAT on it. Aircraft do not pay petroleum tax, called TICPE, nor VAT for international flights.

“If they paid VAT at 20% and a tax on kerosene at the same level as road diesel is taxed at (€0.6 per litre) the price per passenger for an airliner on a Paris–Barcelona flight would rise by around €35,” the report states.

It added: “These tax loopholes are the result of international treaties and it will not be possible for France to try and change them unilaterally. However, France can raise the tax on aircraft tickets to compensate until an international compromise is reached.”

In a further breakdown of costs between train and air per passenger for the Paris-Barcelona route, the report shows that Air France typically pays €30 for airport services, low-cost carriers €28 and SNCF TGV trains €2 for railway station services. However, airlines pay between €11 and €12 for navigation taxes, while train operators pay €55 to use the rails.

Energy costs per passenger by air are between €17 and €20, while for the train they are €9.

Existing carbon-related taxes are €11 for airlines and €4 for trains, and other costs amounted to €35 for airlines and €33 for trains.

Réseau Action Climat called for the French government to raise air ticket taxes, to €30 for economy class international flights of less than 2,000km, up to €360 for private jet passengers on the same flights. For long-haul flights the association wants to see economy class passengers pay €100 and private jet passengers €2,400. Business and first-class passengers should pay between €90 for international flights of less than 2,000km to €600 for long-haul flights.

It also wants to revive a 1930s initiative that offered low-cost train travel to French people once a year, for night trains to be “properly” bought back, and for the tolls to use rail tracks to be reduced.