Planning a trip in Europe?

Many of us are familiar with the situation: you want to travel to a European city by train. But there is no direct train – so you risk missing your connecting train, journeys are often more expensive and tickets have to be bought on different platforms. Direct train connections are therefore important for convenience and a favourable price. Greenpeace has analysed the current, but also possible further direct train connections in Europe between major cities.

What are the key findings of Greenpeace’s new train connectivity report 'Connection Failed?

• Of the 990 routes between the 45 major European cities Greenpeace analysed, only 12% can currently be travelled by direct trains, while 69% can be travelled by direct flight. This is six times as many direct flights as direct train connections between these 45 cities.
• Of 990 routes, 42% – 419 routes – could be easily served by a direct train with a journey time of less than 18 hours using the existing rail infrastructure.
• However, at present only 27% (114 of the potential 419 direct train routes), are in fact served by direct train, leaving 73% (305 potential routes) not being served by a direct train.
• The untapped potential for direct trains between European cities is considerable: Direct train connections in Europe could be more than tripled using existing rail infrastructure.
• The top five cities best connected by direct train in Europe are (in this order): Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Zurich, and Paris. In none of the cities analysed is the potential for direct trains fully exploited. Even Vienna, the city with 17 and thus the most direct train connections in Europe in absolute terms, has direct trains on only 59% of the possible routes.

We are calling the EU Commission and national governments to invest in rail infrastructure, enhance cooperation between railway companies, and mandate direct trains where they aren’t yet commercially viable. Let’s make sustainable travel accessible to all!