We also compared the CO2 emitted on the same routes, and found plane journeys emitted 118% more CO2 on average.
While the government has cut APD, rail fares were increased by 5.9% this year. The UK pledged to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Flight and train routes compared
Our snapshot research compared flying versus taking the train on 10 UK journeys between 7 and 15 April. This included travel to popular UK holiday destinations such as Newquay, Bournemouth and Edinburgh.
Across all 10 routes we found that people pay 35% more on average to travel by plane, but the difference on some routes was more stark.
A direct flight between Edinburgh and Bournemouth flying out on 8 April and returning a week later was £38. The train journey, with two changes each way was £127 - more than triple the price. That’s despite finding the cheapest fare possible - with a split save journey outwards and an advance train ticket return - and the return train journey taking 16 hours in total.
On the same Edinburgh to Bournemouth route, the CO2 emissions per passenger were 218kg on the plane (according to Atmosfair) and 95kg on the train (according to EcoPassenger)
Table notes:New domestic routes launched
From (1 April) a cut to the air passenger duty (APD) for domestic flights will see airlines’ tax bills halved from £13 to £6.50 per passenger, with airlines incentivised to introduce more domestic routes as a result.
Ryanair said it had added new domestic flight routes to its schedule as a direct result of the APD cut.
A Stansted to Edinburgh route will run three times per day. And a Stansted to Cornwall route is available three times per week.
We compared Ryanair’s Stansted to Edinburgh route with the equivalent train journey and it was 75% more expensive to travel by train while the flight emitted twice the CO2.
In comparison, France has proposed banning domestic flights where equivalent journeys taking less than two-and-a-half hours on its rail and bus networks are available. France’s railways are better equipped than the UK’s according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019 by the World Economic Forum. France ranked 13th in the world for its quality of railroad infrastructure compared to the UK ranking 29th.
Our research
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/air-passenger-duty-tax-cut-uk-plane-routes-co2-aclwP7w2gegk