Travelling to Paris by plane, car or train? On behalf of TGV Lyria, INFRAS has calculated the environmental and accident costs as well as the carbon footprint of various modes of transport on five long-distance routes between Switzerland and France for the year 2023.
On behalf of TGV Lyria, INFRAS has calculated the environmental impact and costs of different modes of transport for five cross-border routes between Switzerland and France, as an update of a study from 2021. The results clearly show that rail (TGV Lyria connections on each of the routes analysed) is the leader in terms of sustainability. On average, a journey by TGV produces around 40 times less CO2 emissions per person than a travel by plane and 37 times less than by conventional car. Even in comparison to electric vehicles, the TGV performs significantly better with almost 20 times lower emissions.
Comprehensive update of the comparison of modes of transport
INFRAS developed a comparison of modes of transport for TGV Lyria in 2019 and analysed how environmentally friendly rail, long-distance bus, airplane and car were on five specific connections between Switzerland and France. The study is comprehensively updated using the latest data available on emissions from the modes analysed. For the first time, actual figures for the new TGV Lyria fleet have been taken into account. The comparison includes the quantitative balances of the various modes of transport on the Geneva-Paris, Zurich-Paris, Basel-Paris, Lausanne-Paris and Lausanne-Marseille routes. The focus is on four parameters:
- Carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions)
- Energy balance
- Environmental and accident costs
- Time benefit (productively usable travelling time)
Clearest difference in carbon footprint and environmental costs
In the overall comparison, the railway performs best in all areas and on all routes. The TGV Lyria is clearly ahead in terms of carbon footprint, environmental costs and accident costs. The best alternative to the train from an environmental point of view is the long-distance bus, which, however, causes significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions and environmental costs. Cars and airplanes perform significantly worse than trains in terms of impact on the climate and the environment.
Although electric cars have a better carbon footprint and lower environmental costs than combustion engines, they are still well behind the railway in 2023. This is mainly due to the higher accident costs and the environmental impact of the battery production for electric cars. This shows that rail still has a clear environmental advantage over cars in international long-distance transport, even with electrified drive systems.
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