A groundbreaking new study conducted by Hitachi Rail reveals a striking shift in travel preferences across Europe and North America, with an overwhelming majority of citizens expecting train journeys to dominate long-distance travel in the coming years. This research highlights a growing public momentum not only to embrace rail travel but also to support bold legislative moves aimed at curbing short-haul flights where high-speed rail alternatives are available.
Rail Travel Gains Ground as Preferred Long-Distance Option
The comprehensive survey, carried out by SavantaComres, gathered the views of more than eleven thousand individuals from diverse countries including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. It also covered key metropolitan areas such as Washington DC, Toronto, London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Dubai, providing a broad perspective on global travel trends. This marks the third consecutive year Hitachi Rail has undertaken such extensive research, underscoring the company’s commitment to tracking and anticipating evolving travel behaviors.
Currently, rail accounts for roughly twenty-nine percent of all long-distance journeys—defined as trips lasting two and a half hours or longer. However, the study’s forecasts indicate a substantial increase in train usage. Within the next year, around one-third of respondents expect to travel more frequently by train, with this figure swelling to forty to forty-nine percent over the next five years depending on the region. In stark contrast, air travel is projected to remain virtually flat, with only a modest net increase of two percent in flying anticipated during this period. Personal car use is expected to grow as well but at a significantly slower pace—estimated at half the rate of rail travel expansion.
Public Support for Restricting Short-Haul Flights is Strong and Growing
Perhaps most telling is the study’s insight into public opinion regarding policy measures to accelerate the shift towards sustainable transport. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (sixty-two percent) support legislation that bans short-haul flights where competitive high-speed rail options exist. This support is even stronger in Europe—where high-speed rail networks have expanded rapidly—with sixty-seven percent backing such laws.
Countries leading the charge include France and Spain, where bans on short-haul flights have either been implemented or are under serious consideration. The survey reveals that in these nations, support for these restrictions outpaces opposition by more than two to one. Moreover, there is a robust appetite for even more stringent measures, with sixty-three percent of Spaniards and fifty-six percent of French respondents endorsing stronger legislative action.
Funding Future Rail Infrastructure through Sustainable Taxes Gains Favor
The study also explored public attitudes toward funding infrastructure investments critical to sustaining rail expansion. A clear majority across all surveyed countries expressed willingness to support increased taxes on air travel or road use if revenues were allocated toward new rail infrastructure. This suggests an understanding among citizens that sustainable transport improvements require innovative financing mechanisms, including the internalization of environmental and congestion costs currently borne externally by society.
Addressing Challenges to Public Transport Growth
Despite the strong optimism and support for rail travel, passengers identified several hurdles that must be overcome to realize this modal shift fully. Crowding on trains and other public transport options, concerns about affordability, and the need for greater convenience emerged as the most pressing issues. More than seventy percent of respondents said they would be willing to use public transport more frequently if services were better connected, highlighting the critical role of seamless, integrated networks in encouraging uptake.
Importantly, over half indicated they would continue to use public transport more even if it meant paying higher fares, signaling a readiness among travelers to invest in greener and more efficient travel options.
Implications for the Future of Sustainable Travel
This study’s findings come at a pivotal moment when governments and industries worldwide are grappling with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. Transport remains a major contributor to greenhouse gases, and the shift from short-haul flights and car journeys to rail travel could significantly lower the sector’s environmental footprint.
The data indicates that consumers are not only willing but eager to embrace this change. With strong public backing for legislative bans on short-haul flights, increased taxation on air and road travel, and investment in rail infrastructure, the path to a greener, more sustainable transport future appears achievable.
Edoardo La Ficara, Group Chief Markets Officer, Hitachi Rail, said: “The findings of this research are strikingly clear. Those surveyed expect to increase their rail usage more than any other form of transport in the next five years and they support Government action to enable this. We, as an industry, have a crucial opportunity to meet this public demand by delivering a great sustainable mobility transition.”
Governments and policymakers will find in this research a clear mandate to accelerate the rollout of high-speed rail networks, enhance the connectivity and affordability of public transport, and implement policies that align with citizen preferences for environmentally responsible travel.
Hitachi Rail’s latest research confirms that train travel is on the cusp of a major resurgence, driven by public demand for sustainable, efficient, and connected transport solutions. As attitudes shift decisively in favor of rail, the challenge now lies in translating this momentum into concrete action—building the infrastructure, adopting supportive policies, and improving services—to ensure that the future of long-distance travel is greener, smarter, and more passenger-friendly than ever before.
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