Banning short-haul flights and investing in high-speed railways for a sustainable future?

Anne de Bortoli and Adelaide Feraille

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Abstract: Long-distance mobility sustainability, high-speed railways (HSR) decarbonization effect, and bans for short-haul flights are debated in Europe. Yet, holistic environmental assessments on these topics are scarce. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted on the Paris-Bordeaux transportation options in France: HSR, plane, coach, personal car, and carpooling. The overall ranking on four environmental indicators, from best to worst, is as follows: coach, HSR, carpooling, private car, and plane. Scenario analyses showed that increasing train occupancy decreases the environmental impact of the mode (-12%), while decreasing speed does not. Moreover, worldwide carbon footprints of electric HSR modes range 30-120 gCO2eq per passenger-kilometer traveled. Finally, a consequential LCA highlighted carbon paybacks of the HSR project. Under a business-as-usual trip substitution scenario, the HSR gets net-zero 60 years after construction. With a short-haul flight ban, it occurs after 10 years. This advocates for generalizing short-haul flight bans and investing in HSR infrastructure.

Date: 2025-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre
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Published in De Bortoli, Anne, and Adelaide Feraille. 2024. Banning Short-Haul Flights and Investing in High-Speed Railways for a Sustainable Future?. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 128 (March):103987

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