Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: South Yorkshire, UK
Programs: A3*G, LH FTL, VS Red, Avis Preferred, Hertz President's Circle, (RIP Diamond Club)
Posts: 2,364
Another issue that politicians seem to totally ignore is that airports and rail hubs rarely overlap. Someone earlier pointed out that the train from Bordeaux to Montparnasse is fast but access to CDG takes a long time, either through Paris traffic in a taxi or on the Metro, which is definitely not designed for the traveller with lots of luggage. We have the same problem in the UK where I can get from Sheffield to London in 2 hours by train but onward travel to LHR is in excess of 1 hour and takes int he world's most expensive stretch of railway (Paddington Express).
Major hub airports need to be served by direct train routes from regional towns and cities otherwise the policy to eliminate the flights from regional airports makes little sense.