Seven Gigantic Influences on Why You Should Take a Train Over a Plane

When you are travelling relatively short distances you should always look into trains as well as planes and weigh the differences.  What are these differences I speak of…well let me tell you. 🙂

Timing

This is the obvious one everyone will think of. Most people will not see the details of this though. Yes, the train is going to take longer to get to your destination than a plane if you only look at the travel time on those two options. But when you take into account that airports are usually outside of the city centre, you now have to calculate the time it will take you to get to the airport. Train stations are usually located right in the city centre.

You also want to include the time that you need to arrive the airport. You can’t just show up 30 minutes before a flight like you can on a train. So you will probably also factor in another 2 hours before your flight especially when you don’t know the airport.

Then finally you’ll need to calculate the time at your destination to wait for your checked bag and then getting into the city centre. When you do all these calculations you may see that they are going to be similar or even that the train may be quicker in the long run.

Costs

Yes, you can get some cheap flights, but the majority of trains are not going to be expensive unless you are planning to take the Orient Express 😉 . Your train ticket will probably be less expensive and that is before you factor in the costs of getting to and from the airport/train station. With the train stations usually being in the city centre these will be much cheaper to get to.

Taking a flight you will also need to pay for you checked bag. Some budget airlines also charge you for a carryon. When you take a train you don’t have to pay for any bags, unless you plan on bringing an excessive amount.

When a train ride is a significant amount of time you can take an overnight train, with a bed/cabin. This will knock off having to pay for a night’s accommodation. With a plane it wouldn’t be a long enough flight to make an overnight flight worth it.

Enjoy the journey as well as the destination

When you take a train you get to see the landscape of the country you are in and wouldn’t normally be able to see. It is like taking a cool road trip but you don’t have to drive. Sit back and enjoy the views.

The seats on a train are much nicer and more comfortable vs. the cramped plane seats. Also if you are travelling with a few people you can book at a table seat and you all sit together across from each other.

Feeling hungry, and didn’t bring anything with you? You can visit the food car whenever you want.  It is also a lot easier to bring a picnic with you to eat on the train vs a plane, complete with wine.

Everyone also seem to be a whole lot more relaxed on a train vs a plane. Soak it up.