> I have travelled through Europe quite extensively. IMO cheap flights like Ryanair and Wizz beat train hands down Europe is fighting hard short haul flights,

> I have travelled through Europe quite extensively. IMO cheap flights like Ryanair and Wizz beat train hands down Europe is fighting hard short haul flights, many of which are now just plain down illegal. Several countries, including France, have already banned short haul flights of less than 2h30. I see this "high speed trains" push as related to the attack by the EU on short haul flights. So no matter if we find that cheap flights do beat trains hands down or not, in a near future there may not be any choice: and the choice seems like it's going to be train.