Toulouse-Paris. Greenpeace calls for the end of the air and military link for the train
Through Thibaut Calatayud
Published on
“Put Europe back on track”. This is the name of the latest study commissioned by the European unit of Green peace, published Wednesday October 27, 2021. In this document of around thirty pages, the environmental protection NGO recommends the train rather than the plane for the intra-community journeys (within the same country and / or the European Union) the most used so that there is a rail alternative of less than six hours. In this study, the air shuttle enters Toulouse and Paris is singled out.
Toulouse-Paris: the busiest short flight in Europe
For this publication, Greenpeace studied no less than 150 courier flights. To pay 34% of them, including Toulouse-Paris, there is a rail alternative of less than six hours.
Indeed, on the rail, count at least 4h20 to do Toulouse-Paris fr TGV. By 2030, the high speed line (LGV) between the fourth largest city in France and Bordeaux should make it possible to link Toulouse and Paris in just 3h10.
From the air, the capital is accessible from the Pink City via links written by the companies Air France and EasyJet. Count 1h20 for rally the airports of Roissy Charles de Gaulle and D’Orly, located on the outskirts of Paris. According to Greenpeace, this short-haul flight was the busiest in the European Union in 2019, with no less than 3,221,467 passengers year round.
Greenpeace calls for a ban on flights
The NGO estimates that “the simple fact of stopping the plane for flights over the hours exists in the European Union, since a rail link of less than six, allows to save 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year “. That is two thirds of greenhouse gases emitted by Toulouse Métropole in 2015.
This given well in mind, Greenpeace denounces a “disproportionate climate impact” and pleads to ban short flights at European level, therefore that between the Pink City and the capital, “while ensuring that the air slots released are not used for longer distance flights ”.
“Making the train cheaper and more practical”
But today, for a Toulouse-Paris, taking the plane is sometimes more financially advantageous than a train ticket … Aware of this, Greenpeace calls for making rail travel “cheaper and more practical” than those made through the air.
“In particular by ending subsidies to the aviation sector and exemptions from kerosene tax and VAT, by reducing track access charges, by creating social tariffs for train tickets and by exempting international rail links from VAT (international plane tickets are exempt from VAT while international train connections are not in some countries). In all EU countries “.
In short, the NGO campaigns for a transition from air transport to rail transport by improving the supply of trains and the quality of rail infrastructure.
The carbon-free plane, the perfect compromise?
Aeronautics players, including Airbus, are currently working on the green plane. But for Greenpeace, these efforts will not be enough to instantly address environmental issues …
“The only line of the government is the green plane, this carbon neutral plane that Emmanuel Macron promises for 2030, despite the opinions of experts who expect 2035 at best. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the development and deployment of a “green” aircraft will take time and will not be enough to absorb air traffic which could further double by 2037 “, regrets the NGO. .
Has this article been useful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Toulouse in the Mon Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.