Duration, price, transfers… Is the train always cheaper than the plane in France?

What is more profitable to fly to France by plane or by train? On Tuesday, TGV-Intercités SNCF director Alain Krakovic said that on X, previously Twitter that “A plane is never faster or cheaper than a train.” And as an example, the boss can point to the study of the Kombo platform, which compares the prices of train and plane travel in France.

A statement that is true when comparing prices and travel times between Paris and several other major cities in the country… But it turns out to be less true when trips are made in the provinces. Explanations.

The train is faster than the plane from Paris

In its study published on Tuesday, the Kombo platform wanted to compare the time and cost of travel by plane and train, taking into account all the parameters of a door-to-door trip. Each trip was booked for July 27th, departing September 4th, to avoid the vagaries of midsummer bookings. Conclusion: “The train remains very competitive on domestic flights,” analyzes Mathieu Marchene, CEO of Kombo.

“Aircraft has a concept of duration that is shorter because the longest journeys (i.e.n Metropolitan France) last 1:25. But the reality is that you have to arrive at the airport two hours before departure, while TGV Inouï closes its doors 2 minutes before departure, and Ouigo asks to be there thirty minutes before departure. Travel time to the airport is about an hour to the Paris airport and thirty minutes to the center of a provincial city,” he explains.

Apart from the time, the cost of the train can also be more advantageous. Example: a Paris-Lyon train lasting 1 hour 30 minutes will cost at least 29 euros versus 116 euros for 4 hours 35 minutes by plane and with transfers. The Paris-Toulouse train journey will be 25 minutes shorter and will cost at least 31 euros compared to 50 euros by plane. The same goes for the Paris-Montpellier route, which has a minimum cost of 27 euros by train to 65 euros by plane. The only exception: the flight Paris-Nice by plane is shorter (4 hours 55 minutes) than by train (5 hours 40 minutes).

Note that these conclusions need to be clarified as the study does not compare average prices, but minimum prices, which are often discounted by low cost Ouigo train prices.

But in the provinces everything is more difficult

While a train may be more advantageous for travel to or from Paris, this conclusion is less true when one has to travel from a provincial city to another provincial city. “When we want to travel between Caen (Calvados) and Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhone), we will have a 6-hour and sometimes 7-hour train journey. If we do it at the last moment, we will have more than 100 euros for the trip. But we will find a direct plane ticket, ”admits Mathieu Markene. “It’s definitely more competitive. »

This refers, in particular, to “the structure of the French railway network, shaped like a star and strongly concentrated in Paris.” There is no direct rail connection between Bordeaux (Gironde) and Lyon (Rhone), the busiest route outside of Paris on Combo, even if the line project initiated by Railcoop goes live in the summer of 2024. The fact remains that, in general, the train is more profitable for the busiest connections in France, which include departures from or arrivals in Paris, Kombault assures.

The train is always more environmentally friendly than the plane

The balance may also tilt more and more in favor of the train in the coming years. On Monday, Transport Minister Delegate Clement Beaune announced at the RMC that the tax on plane tickets would be “strengthened” to “fund investment in the train.” “Many people tell us that they are shocked that often a plane is cheaper than a train,” the minister defended.

In addition to the economic argument, the train has an undeniable environmental advantage over the plane. “Per person and per kilometer, a train pollutes the environment 8 times less than a car and 14 times less than an airplane (and TGV is 3 times less than a conventional train),” the Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe) points out.