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Acting upon Flygskam, an environmentally friendly movement aimed at reducing aviation operations, the EU is establishing various railroad lines that aim to provide a new mode of transport in European Countries.

Overview

The railroad industry in Europe has been in steady decline due to the emergence and popularity of cheap budget airlines which offered air travel between various European cities. With little to no price differences, Europeans looked to the comfort of the airline services. Knowing the environmental impact of flying, a movement emerged in Europe to ‘shame’ flying. This initiative of increasing night trains is in line with this movement, and plan to establish a railroad connecting Sweden and Germany by 2022.

Factors behind this recent development

Flygskam

Swedish word literally meaning “flight shame”, Flygskam emerged in 2018 by Bjorn Ferry, a biathlete olympian. Many celebrities joined him, publicly announcing that they would stop flying. Among them are Greta Thunberg and her mother. The joining of celebrities allowed for many people to follow them, leading to a new movement called Tågskryt, which can be translated directly as “train brag”. This led to the spike in train usage, so much so that the IATA (International Air Transport Association) had its annual meeting dedicated to responding to flygskam.

Rise of Train usage in other countries

The call for train usage is not just a local phenomenon in Sweden, but rather an international one spanning across Europe.

Prague

In December of 2020, it has been reported that Adam Scheinherr, the Deputy Mayor for Transport, went into negotiation with train operators for new night connections connecting the city with destinations such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Milan, and more. Located in Central Europe, its proximity to other countries provides an ideal travel hub.

Paris

With train companies from Austria, Germany, France, and Switzerland, Paris will experience an expansion of train routes to Vienna, as well as Munich by December of 2021. Sleep trains are providing a solution to both expensive hotel fees and boring air travel.

COVID-19

Contrary to the flight industry, the sleep train system works by providing individual rooms, so that passengers could enjoy their private space. With COVID-19 and the fear of the airborne disease, people began to prioritize their privacy and distance from a stranger. This added to the notion of Flygskam, and the railroad industry capitalized on the fact.

Current Initiative in Sweden

Initiated by the Social Democrat-Green government, Sweden’s transport authority is commissioned to organize timetables for railroads which will run between Hamburg and Stockholm and Malmö to Brussels. With a goal to start service in 2022, 30 million euros were invested in the autumn budget. This was possible only after a survey was conducted in Europe, in which 63% of the people surveyed indicated that they would utilize the night trains if built.

Berlin Night Express Train

Traveling from Malmö to Berlin, this route is a direct train ride without passing through Denmark. Although there is a body of water between Malmö and Berlin, the railroad company, Snälltåget, has found a way, in which the train itself is loaded onto a giant ferry. This greatly reduces the time of travel as well as bureaucracy issues and is aimed at providing routes that take a similar amount of time as aviation. However, there are only seasonal tickets, as this route is only present in the summer.

Ordinary Train Route

The already established railroad system allows customers to travel from Sweden to Germany via Denmark through transferring trains in various locations. Currently, there is an initiative to provide a non-stop route without having to stop in Denmark. This is slowly becoming a reality, as more and more European countries are utilizing the railroad system. The European Commission’s current plan is to have the system by 2022.

Current Challenges

One of the many challenges that this project has is the integration of various local systems already established. The European Union, as it recognizes each nation’s sovereignty and their rights of operation, does not want to be in competition with them through this new plan. As this plan is also in part an eco-friendly initiative, building railroads when the same route already exists is inefficient and goes against one of its main goals. The timeframe of two years given to this project reflects the obstacles present, and this ongoing project will receive numerous updates as time goes on.

Sources

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flygskam-anti-flying-flight-shamin g-sweden-greta-thornberg-environment-air-travel-train-brag-tagskryt-a8945196.html

https://www.expats.cz/czech-news/article/prague-to-establish-night-train-connections-to paris-rome-and-other-destinations https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/night-trains-europe-sleeper-obb/index.html

https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/123128/brussels-malmo-night-train-comes-o ne-step-closer/