German major airports want to cancel every fifth domestic flight.
They are to be replaced by fast rail connections.
But there is a fundamental problem.
It's no secret that short domestic flights are harmful to the climate.
That is why the plans of the rail and aviation industries sound praiseworthy at first.
It is planned that every fifth domestic flight will be withdrawn from service.
In order to get to your destination quickly, the rail network is to be expanded and the timetables adjusted.
According to
Der Spiegel,
an action plan for this project has
already been signed.
The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL) assumes that this cooperation will relocate over four million air traffic passengers to the train.
But long-haul passengers should also switch to Deutsche Bahn.
Deutsche Bahn is also to be used by long-distance travelers
As the
Spiegel
reports, the BDL assumes that
around eight million transfer passengers for international long-haul flights can be passed
on to the train.
However, if the train journey takes more than three hours to the nearest major airport, you would still have to rely on air transport, according to the BDL.
International connections cannot be replaced as easily as domestic flights.
And these should be contained for climate reasons.
Finally, the Federal Environment Agency found out that traveling by train is much more climate-friendly than flying or even traveling by long-distance bus or car.
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“Lufthansa Express Rail” announced in March
The cooperation, which was announced under the name “Lufthansa Express Rail” in March, further expands the joint offer.
22 take-off stations are planned
, the trains of which will also be provided with a flight number.
If a train is canceled or there are drastic delays, passengers would automatically be rebooked on the next flight.
The cooperation also provides for the
use of sprinter trains
to the largest airports in the country.
The aim is to save travel time on routes from Cologne, Munich and Nuremberg to Frankfurt Airport.
Second largest German airport without long-distance traffic connections
The airports in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Cologne-Bonn and Leipzig-Halle can make the planned offer possible thanks to their good connections to local and long-distance transport.
The second largest airport in Germany,
Munich Airport,
on the other hand, lacks such long-distance traffic connections.
A feasibility study is therefore to be carried out there.
This should check variants for an additional connection.
(swa)
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