If you’re planning a reasonably short trip in France, a plane will soon no longer be an option.

The French government says that flights will be banned on any route where the trip could be made on a train in 2.5 hours or less. Flights from Paris to Lyon, for example, will no longer be allowed, since the same trip can be made in two hours on one of France’s fast trains.

On average, the plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger than the train on these routes, even though the train is cheaper and the time lost is limited to 40 minutes.

Advocates of the flight bans say that not only does taking the train significantly reduce a traveler’s carbon footprint, but it can be cheaper and faster than a plane when factoring in the time it takes to get to the airport and stand in security line.

Another proposal would have ditched all flights shorter than four hours than could have been replaced by train rides, but politicians compromised after pressure from airlines.

Source: Yale Edu

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/france-will-ban-short-flights-that-could-be-replaced-by-a-train-trip