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High speed rail in Europe on track to provide a painful blow to the airlines
On September 7th, the Dutch rail operator will finally start operating trains on the Amsterdam - Rotterdam high speed line, the next step in making continuous high speed rail travel possible from Amsterdam to Brussels and Paris.
This high speed line had been in the planning phase for over 30 years, and took ten years to build. As with many Dutch infrastructure projects, the environmental impact meant a lot of the track had to be tunneled or bridged, increasing the total cost. One of the longest tunnels crosses under the "Green Heart", and is almost 8 kilometers long.
There is one minor snag - the trains required for continuous high speed travel have not yet been delivered, so even though there is one long high speed line from The Netherlands, through Belgium to France, parts will still be serviced at low(er) speeds using trains from the existing Thalys service.
Once the new trains are delivered, what will this mean for European travelers? Well, from the city center of Amsterdam to the city center of Paris in just over 3 hours. Or from Rotterdam to Brussels in just 30 minutes. Some times have been cut by more than 50%.
Flying the Amsterdam - Paris route takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes, but once you add the trip to the airport, check-in time and security, you are easily looking at 4 hours, so it is obvious that the airlines are really going to feel the pain from a 3 hour high speed trip. At the moment though, the current Amsterdam - Paris train takes about the same time as flying (4 hours 10 minutes) so there is no time gained.
Filed under: Europe, France, Netherlands, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jan Koning Sep 25th 2009 4:43AM
The current travel time between Amsterdam and Paris is around 4h10 by train and around the same by airplane. So indeed, no time is gained.
But the air travel means that once you get to the airport, you need to wait in line at the check-in desk, at passport control, luggage check-in, then walk to the gate, wait there for boarding, board and wait for take-off. Then, once you're in the air you can get something done, but you can't use your phone (although airlines are now slowly providing this service). Then, well before landing, you must shut off all electronic equipment. Then you'll have to wait again: for disembarking, walking to the luggage pick-up area, going through customs.
When you travel by high speed train, once you get to the station, you can immediately board the train. Put your luggage away and start enjoying the trip. You can do your work, use your phone, plug in your laptop in an AC-outlet so your laptop's battery won't go empty during the trip, have a large and comfortable seat and enjoy your meals and drinks, which are of much higher quality than in the plane.
And upon arriving at your destination, you grab your luggage and get off the train. As simple as that!
So even though you don't save much time, you have an uninterrupted and comfortable journey. Your time is well-spent!