Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of business travellers would choose to travel by train, rather than by plane, when both options are viable and the cost and journey time are similar, according to new research from BCD Travel.
Around half of respondents (49 per cent) cited the ease of access of train stations as a determining factor, while 46 per cent said rail travel is more convenient, and 41 per cent said it allows them to work whilst travelling.
Although 31 per cent of respondents pointed to rail’s sustainability credentials as a reason to choose it over air travel, 40 per cent of business travellers never or rarely consider the environmental impact of their choice of transport.
“Taking the train as opposed to flying can reduce carbon emissions of a journey by as much as 95 per cent,” said Olivia Ruggles-Brise, vice president of sustainability at BCD Travel, which conducted the survey. “It’s encouraging to see that travellers are starting to build this into their decision-making process.”
On average, survey respondents consider five hours to be the maximum
duration for a train journey, although nearly one in five (18 per cent)
had taken train trips of more than five hours in the last year.
The TMC surveyed nearly 700 business travellers in Europe and Asia Pacific in January and February, and also found that although the majority of respondents make only domestic rail trips, one in four had taken an international rail trip in the previous 12 months.
With the availability of rail content in preferred corporate channels often called into question, it is perhaps not surprising that most respondents (58 per cent) said they typically book rail travel directly with operators, compared with the 33 per cent who said they book through their employer’s designated online booking tool.
To close that gap, BCD said it continues to invest in its proprietary booking and trip management platform, TripSource, to deliver integrated rail functionality.
When it comes to class of travel, just over half of respondents (51 per cent) normally book standard tickets, one quarter (25 per cent) typically travel in business or first class, and 24 per cent make use of both.
Half of travellers (50 per cent) said they were satisfied with their company’s rail policy. Overall, only 6 per cent of respondents said their company enforces travel by rail for short distances, while 33 per cent said their employer encourages it.
“Enforcing rail bookings in place of short-haul flights can help lower travel emissions,” said Ruggles-Brise. “However, travellers must be aware of such policy changes in order to make an impact, which is why communicating with your travellers is so important.
“They need to understand when it’s appropriate to book rail instead of a flight and how to do that within the travel policy. Communicate across multiple channels – the company intranet, direct emails, and targeted messaging directly in the online booking tool,” Ruggles-Brise added.
Although nearly a third of respondents (31 per cent) reported no challenges with their employer’s rail policies and processes, a range of issues were highlighted, including a lack of clear policy (16 per cent), inconvenient booking (14 per cent) and complex international ticketing (13 per cent).
However, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents were extremely or somewhat dissatisfied with the rail operators they travel with, with reliability, overcrowding, limited connectivity, high ticket prices and a lack of amenities the biggest bugbears among travellers.