Jon WorthAug 15, 2023

Missing the point

Yes taxation rates matter. But France-Spain and France-Belgium trains are expensive to take *because the capacity is too low*

If you reduce ticket prices on those routes you WON’T TRANSPORT MORE PEOPLE. Just different people. As the trains are full anyway

So, Clement Beaune, how are you going to get more TGVs to Barcelona?

https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/08/10/france-is-raising-taxes-on-flights-to-pay-for-trains-should-other-european-countries-do-th

Why are flights cheaper than trains in Europe?

Train travel is often more expensive than flying. Could taxing aviation to invest in the rail industry help change that?

euronews
Show threadJon WorthAug 15, 2023
And if your response is “ah but rail firms will add more capacity”, I’d point you to Thalys that hasn’t upped capacity in 2 decades despite rising demand and sky high prices. And SNCF that runs just 2 TGVs to Barcelona a day. Both easy to solve, both not done.
Show threadQuixoticgeek
@jon I still don't understand why these rail cos are so short sighted. Why they run such a limited service. Esp on the Thalys routes. Those are clearly running at capacity, and have been for a while. But not even a modest change of a couple of extra trains a day. Or running double formations. Nothing. It makes no sense to me.
Aug 15, 2023 at 9:59amWeb
Show threadJon WorthAug 15, 2023
@quixoticgeek it’s hard work to change something. Why do hard work? (Or is that too cynical?)
Show threadQuixoticgeekAug 15, 2023
@jon well that was my first guess. But it felt... Obvious...