Since the construction of the high-speed line Amsterdam-Paris, at least 300,000 travelers have left their plane behind. Instead, they took the train to the French capital. This is apparent from an evaluation by research agency Decisio on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
The high-speed line was put into operation in 2008. A train journey from Amsterdam to Paris nowadays takes less than 4 hours. That makes it more attractive in terms of time than a plane trip. Yet the international train passengers just before corona was lower than expected.
Travel to Paris usually by train
Between 2008 and 2019, 5.5 million people chose the fast train to Brussels and Paris. If it weren’t for the high-speed rail line, 300,000 to 1.1 million of those travelers would have taken the plane, the researchers conclude.
The effect is also reflected in the number of flights from Schiphol. While the number of flights to cities such as Berlin (76%), Frankfurt (48%) and London (30%) has increased considerably since 2008, the growth to Paris was much lower (12%). And that while air traffic between Schiphol and Paris increased sharply in the years before.
Three quarters of travelers to Paris now take the train. To Berlin just over half take the train and to Frankfurt nothing even half. While Frankfurt is closer than Paris.
It is difficult to say whether exchanging plane for train is also more sustainable. Less flying leads to fewer emissions, the researchers write. But if the extra space at Schiphol is replaced by other (intercontinental) flights with more emissions than the short European flights, it will hardly solve anything.
Goals not achieved
In addition, the number of international train passengers is disappointing. Expectations in 1994 – when plans for the fast train were being made – were that 9 million travelers would take the international train by 2019. That eventually became 5.5 million.
The researchers see several reasons for the lower number of travelers. Firstly, the journey to Brussels takes longer than intended due to, among other things, an extra stopover in Breda.
In addition, it has not been possible to run a direct fast train between London and Amsterdam before 2019. As a result, fewer travelers exchanged the plane for the train between 2008 and 2019.
There is now a connection between London and Amsterdam, with stops in Rotterdam and Brussels.
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