Business travel by rail is on the rise in Europe
Over the last decade, companies have taken clear steps to reduce their carbon footprint. As part of this effort, every year new businesses decide to reduce their air travel emissions by shifting to rail. This year again, the momentum is undeniable: companies are not just talking about it: they’re taking action.
Notable examples include Roland Berger, the global consulting firm, which has implemented a mandatory rail policy for journeys that can be completed by train in under 3:30 hours, while offering employees perks like first-class rail travel and allowing train time to count as work hours for work done during personal travel. Similarly, major pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca mandates rail travel for trips under four hours, and multinational bank ING restricts air travel on short-haul routes where high-speed rail is available.
These companies’ practices illustrate a bigger trend. Take the UK, for instance, where rail travel by public sector employees now outpaces air travel on routes between Scotland and London. France has also seen a surge in business rail travel, with SNCF, the national rail operator, reporting that corporate rail travel has returned to 2019 levels. In fact, the French government now strongly encourages companies to opt for rail on trips under four hours. This is the future of corporate travel in Europe, and it’s happening now.
Corporate travellers want better cross-border services
But bottlenecks still exist and if they are not addressed, the shift towards rail travel will halt. First, we need to solve the cumbersome processes to book rail tickets. That’s where the EU Single Ticketing Regulation comes in. Confirmed by the European Commission, it will be tabled in 2025 and will streamline the process of booking international rail journeys. Over 70 companies have already called on the EU to improve ticketing, and now the EU is responding.
The new regulation will require rail operators to share their data across all platforms, allowing business travellers to book a single ticket for multi-leg journeys, no matter which operators are involved. This will not only make booking easier but will ensure that passengers benefit from full rights in case of delays or cancellations.
Second, the EU and governments must step up investments in rail infrastructure. Business travellers demand reliability, and in some countries, the service simply isn’t good enough. Investments in network maintenance and digitalisation are needed to reduce delays and cancellations.
Take Germany, for example: less than two-thirds of Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains arrived on time in 2024. This unreliability has prompted leading business associations representing over 1500 members and companies like SAP, IKEA retailer Ingka Group, Sweco, as well as the University of Liège to join environmental groups in calling on the German government to invest in modernising the rail network.
Reliability issues are not unique to Germany. To fully unlock the potential of rail travel, Europe must leverage its rail infrastructure. The upcoming EU budget and the Connecting Europe Facility, a key EU funding tool, should be used to upgrade cross-border links.
It’s clear that business travellers are ready to make the shift. But to truly embrace this change, the EU and governments must act quickly. The EU’s Single Ticketing Regulation is a step in the right direction, but more investment in infrastructure for improved service reliability is essential.
Victor Thévenet, Rail Manager and Denise Auclair, Head of the Travel Smart Campaign
Originally published in Euractiv.