What are the Key Advantages of Travelling by Train?

Up until the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, train travel had been steadily increasing in popularity for over forty years. In 2019 alone, 80 billion passenger-kilometres had been travelled on the UK’s rail lines, illustrating the size and busy-ness of its rail infrastructure. But what exactly are the benefits to travelling by train? It is often taken as read that car travel is more convenient, but how come train travel is such a popular alternative?

Travel When You Want

Train services run at all times of day, with a wide variety of train routes available for you to travel. Many services are also 24 hours, meaning there are minimal restrictions on getting somewhere when travelling by train. If the urge strikes you to visit a new town or city, you can be in possession of a ticket and on your way to the platform within minutes; the sheer breadth of possibility means you can suit travel to your timetable or plans, and easily swap your ticket in the event that plans change. This freedom is unparalleled when it comes to forms of private transport, or reliance on lifts.

Travel to the Heart of a City

Every major city in the UK has a train station at the centre of it. When you travel to a town or city destination by train, you alight in the middle of it all – enabling you to get straight into the action. If you’re in town for a business trip, the train station will be a stone’s throw from the city’s hotels, financial district and most popular venues for meeting up. As a visitor, the station will have a hub zone where you can get directions to attractions and landmarks – which, again, will not be far. The convenience is remarkable in comparison to the average experience of driving in to a city.

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Save Valuable Time

In all, catching a train can save a considerable amount of time over attempting to travel by car, or even travel by domestic flight. Flying across the UK requires hours of checking in and waiting at the terminal gates, while train travel is as simple as scanning into the station in time for the train you wish to take. Train routes are direct and unimpeded by traffic, where cars can get slowed up by motorway accidents or roadworks.

Travel Sustainably

Lastly, and perhaps most presciently, train travel is the vastly more sustainable form of travel over driving or flying. Flying in particular produces a considerable amount of CO2 per passenger, while trains have a relatively low footprint due to the volume of passengers they transport. With the climate emergency growing ever-more urgent, choosing train travel as a green alternative to driving or flying is a positive moral position to take, and a good move for the health of the planet.