UK - Railways told to compete more with domestic airlines

[John Ashworth]

Transport: Compete more with domestic airlines, rail industry told

* Dan Milmo
* The Guardian,
* Friday August 1 2008

The chief executive of National Express has urged the rail industry to target domestic airlines after warning that train operators needed to promote themselves better.

Richard Bowker, whose company owns the London to Edinburgh east-coast franchise, said his peers should advertise that many train journeys are cheaper and more pleasant than their airline equivalent.

"I really do struggle to see why we make it so easy for people to fly domestically. When you have got such a low-carbon alternative in rail, it's something that should be positively promoted."

Bowker spoke as National Express reported a 4% increase in first-half revenues to £1.37bn, with profit before tax excluding impairment charges and other one-off items rising 14% to £90m. The company revealed a dip in passenger numbers on its Stansted Express service, which transports customers to Britain's third-largest airport. A reduction in flights operated by easyJet and Ryanair, which have been angered by increased landing fees at Stansted, was the main cause of the drop, Bowker added. Both airlines are cutting back further at Stansted this winter, drawing suggestions from some analysts that the low-budget sector may have expanded too quickly.

"We want to have our cake and eat it," said Bowker. "We want to get more inbound and outbound flight rotations at Stansted, but we would like to get to the position where all trips between London and Edinburgh are done by train." He added that National Express had teamed up with hotel chain Travelodge to launch a "Save Our Seaside" campaign to encourage families to holiday in Britain rather than fly abroad. "I subscribe to the view that you will see people taking more UK holidays."

An easyJet spokesperson said Bowker's comments were "bizarre and misguided". EasyJet and Virgin Trains fought over a Virgin advertising campaign last year that attacked the environmental performance of airlines, in a dispute that ended with the Advertising Standards Authority throwing out the no-frills carrier's complaint.

"There are an awful lot of smoky old diesel trains out there. The lowest carbon alternative is Eurostar and you have to recognise that it is mostly powered by nuclear-generated electricity," said the easyJet spokesperson.