European countries have invested an average of 66 per cent more in expanding and refurbishing road networks than railways since 1995, says Greenpeace.
The study, which was carried out by the Wuppertal Institut and T3 Transportation Think Tank on behalf of the environmental charity, looked at the investments in road and rail infrastructure by the 27 EU countries, as well as Norway, Switzerland and the UK.
It found that European countries have spent approximately €1.5tn (£1.3tn) on road infrastructure and only €930bn on rail in the last three decades.
“Millions of people outside cities have no option but to own a car to get to work, take kids to school or access basic services, living in areas with little or no public transport,” said Lorelei Limousin, Greenpeace EU senior climate campaigner.
“This is a direct result of governments dismantling local and regional rail networks while pouring money into roads. Climate pollution from transport is through the roof, and we’ve seen people around Europe and across the world suffer the consequences.
“Governments and the EU must hit the brakes on this dismantling of our train lines, reopen disused tracks and invest in rail – and stop the massive subsidies for roads that wreck the climate, pollute the air and make people’s lives miserable.”
With transport accounting for around one-quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions, increased use of public transport options like trains are seen as an important way to help the world reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Data from the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero finds that the average carbon footprint of travel per passenger kilometre is around 171g of carbon dioxide-equivalents for diesel cars or 170g for petrol cars. Trains, on the other hand, incur just 35g per passenger kilometre.
Greenpeace said the lopsided funding between cars and trains has come with a 60 per cent increase in the length of Europe’s motorways since 1995, totalling more than 30,000 km. Meanwhile, European rail lines have shrunk by around 6.5 per cent, or 15,650 km.
This contributed to a 29 per cent increase in demand for motorised road transport between 1995 and 2019. Cars, vans and trucks are responsible for roughly 72 per cent of Europe’s transport emissions, while rail accounts for only 0.4 per cent.
Around 13,700 km of mostly regional railway lines and more than 2,500 railway stations have been temporarily or permanently closed to passenger trains, which disproportionately affects rural communities, the report found.
However, since 2018 the funding gap has begun to narrow, from 66 per cent in favour of roads before 2018 to 34 per cent since then. Nevertheless, many European countries continued to close further railway lines and stations, and to plan and build new motorways and airport extensions.
Transport remains the only sector in the EU that has consistently increased its domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions from transport have actually increased by 15 per cent in the period 1995 to 2019.
