The Trains that Killed an Airline - Italian HSR

[Music] last month the national airline of italy al italia filed for bankruptcy now a lot of airlines have gone bankrupt in the last few years but what i found interesting about this particular case was that competition from high-speed trains was cited as one of the reasons now i've flown a lot which is a massive understatement and i've had nothing but bad experiences flying al italia i remember one business trip where they wanted to charge me 800 euros because my bag was overweight on my flight from milan to london which was more than the cost of the flight itself and of course al-italia also had competition from low-cost airlines so the trains weren't the only reason alatelli went bankrupt but i do believe they were a significant factor because domestic flights made up an unusually high percentage of alitalia's flights and the italian high-speed train network has seen significant growth in the past decade there has been a lot of talk in europe lately about replacing short-haul flights with high-speed trains whenever possible several countries including france and austria have proposed laws that limit short-haul flights where alternatives by train are available a report published by obc trans europa last month suggested that one-third of the top 150 short-haul flights in europe have train alternatives that are less than six hours in duration and those alternatives could be improved significantly with more eu investment in high-speed rail and night trains and the situation in italy certainly seems to suggest that when good quality alternatives are available people will take the train instead of flying personally i've done enough flying to last a lifetime so i will gladly take the train whenever possible and after hearing so much about high-speed rail in italy i wanted to see these trains for myself and to get to italy we took the train specifically the obb nightjet sleeper train from amsterdam to innsbruck in austria night trains are another alternative to flying that can work for longer journeys but that will have to be a topic for a future video incidentally innsbruck has a train station with 315 trains per day and six tram lines despite having a fraction of the population of my hometown of fake london which has about 10 trains per day and no rapid transit at all that's just so depressing no wonder they think they need six lane strodes from innsbruck we took a train to verona and enjoyed some beautiful views of the austrian and italian countryside italy is one of the few countries that has multiple high-speed train operators most routes are serviced by trinitalia a state-owned railway operator but some routes also have service on atello trains run by the private company and tv italy has had what could be considered high-speed rail since the 1930s but a substantial network wasn't built out until about 15 years ago and this is when the real pressure was put on domestic air travel rm transit has a great video about the story behind high-speed rail in italy that you should watch if you're interested in more details the long-distance high-speed trains operated by trinitalia are branded frechet or aero trains and there are three levels of service provided along different routes the fastest and most interesting is the red arrow which can reach speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour and are truly airplane competitors the high-speed trains in italy are used by locals for business and leisure travel but they're very popular with foreign tourists as well it's very common for foreigners visiting italy to go to several cities and for that purpose the high-speed trains work extremely well traveling by air requires long and potentially expensive trips to the airport while the train departs and arrives from stations very close to the city center and with good connections to local transport for our trip we took a frechia rosa 1000 train from verona to padova and then a freturosa etr 500 direct to napoli i can totally see the appeal of these trains they are very modern and comfortable and it looks as great as those old photos of airline travel from the 1960s just without the cigarette smoke i found them to be much nicer than the french tgvs or tally trains for example and they're way more comfortable than an airplane one thing that's nice is the price difference between economy and business class isn't nearly as large as it is on an airline in the case of this trip it was 99 euros for business instead of 75 euros for economy and there's even a premium category between the two which makes it much easier to justify upgrading for longer trips for a much larger fare over 200 euros there's executive class which has only one large seat on either side of the carriage if i ever have a meet-up with other urbanist youtubers it will have to be in this executive class boardroom the train has a dining car as well with a fairly limited food menu but extensive coffee menu and bar style as well as booth style seating and the washrooms while small are no worse than on an airplane the 700 kilometer trip from padavada napoli took about five hours and there were several sections where we are cruising along comfortably at 300 kilometers per hour as you travel there are nice views of the italian countryside though there are a huge number of tunnels along this route so your views will be interrupted like this oh there's some countryside and we're in a tunnel again but it's still possible to maintain a reasonable mobile data signal for most of the journey so that's another benefit over flying and of course you get dropped off right in the city which is a major appeal of rail travel once we arrived in napoli we transferred to a local train which was um decidedly less fancy the graffiti was pretty interesting though this is the narrow gauge circumvesuvia railway network which is used by local commuters but also provides access to popular tourist sites like pompeii and it's fascinating that it's only a single track line between napoli and sorrento so trains have to wait at the station in order to pass which is really annoying when you're sitting on the train at the station waiting to leave i found these trains interesting but they have definitely seen better days though it was strange to switch from some of the best trains i've ever taken to some of the worst nobody is going to take these trains instead of flying but back to the frechia rosa trains our high speed train journey was really enjoyable it was convenient comfortable and reasonably cost effective too and it was so much better than dealing with airports this really is an easy decision taking a train like this is the best way to travel these five hours were nice and comfortable as opposed to the five hours of hurry up and wait that you experience going through airports it's becoming increasingly clear that we need to have viable alternatives to flying and viable alternatives to long-distance driving as well for distances between about 150 to 800 kilometers high-speed rail is the ideal option not just for the environment but as a better travel experience as well and i think there's something every country could learn from italy about how to build their future rail projects because if all trains could be this good the future will be bright i'd like to thank my supporters on patreon who pay me to upgrade a business class if you'd like to support the channel and get access to bonus videos visit patreon.com not just bikes [Music] you

Channel: Not Just Bikes

Views: 1,603,870

Keywords: High speed rail, hsr, italo, trenitalia, trenitalia first class, trenitalia executive class, trenitalia frecciarossa, frecciarossa 1000, frecciarossa train, frecciarossa, alitalia, alitalia bankruptcy, why high speed rail is better than flying, why trains are better than flying, italian trains

Id: IbFGG4T3_Yo

Length: 8min 26sec (506 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 03 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/EekleBerry]

The fact that me taking Ryanair from Belgium to Bordeaux is easier, faster, and cheaper than going by train is a tragedy and needs to be remedied.

[u/bibelwerfer]

What did he say the name of his hometown is? I only understand "fake London"

[u/Stonkslut111]

Took Trenitalia twice this past summer from Venice - Rome then from Rome to Saleno. Clean, fast and price wasn't bad. Didn't have to go through the hassle of getting groped at the airport, waiting, etc.

[u/McKingford]

My real life experience with it just tells me how much better HSR is in comparison.

2 years ago I took a TGV from Paris to Marseille and returned by air.

On my trip via train, it was 10 minutes door to door from the place I was staying, to the metro, and to Gare de Lyons, arriving 15 minutes before departure, which was absolutely plenty of time. Boarding is super simple and hassle free compared to air travel. The train was 3.25 hours, and it was a 5 minute walk from the Marseille train station to my Airbnb.

Total cost: €2 for the metro, €30 for the train

Total travel time: 10+15+195+5 minutes = 4.25 hours

On my return flight back, it was a 30 minute cab ride to the airport, with a 90 minute wait before boarding. The flight was 1.25 hours. It was 30 minutes deplaning and getting checked luggage, followed by a 40 minute cab ride to my place in Paris.

Total cost: €75 for the Marseille cab ride, €120 for the flight, €60 for the Paris cab ride = €225 ($325 CA).

Total travel time: 30+90+75+30+30 = 4.25 hours

So it was almost exactly the same time, but slightly more than 1/8th the cost to take the train, with less attendant hassles along the way, AND the train was much, much more comfortable than the plane: both more spacious and quieter.

[u/CrunchyJeans]

Trains are nice because if something goes wrong you can just stop the train.