Most European business travelers opt for train travel over air for domestic trips as part of an “increasing shift toward train travel,” according to a TravelPerk survey of 4,000 business travelers published this week.
The survey—conducted from Sept. 13-16 and with respondents split evenly between business travelers in Germany, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.—showed 58 percent of business travelers in major European markets were choosing trains for domestic travel, according to TravelPerk. While the U.S. has less rail infrastructure for business travel, 19 percent of U.S. travelers said they choose rail for domestic travel.
“As businesses continue to balance productivity, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness in their travel policies, the role of domestic and short-haul international train travel is poised to grow,” TravelPerk VP of supplier relations Kristina Geier said in a statement. “The data shows that business travelers are increasingly turning to trains for domestic travel.”
About a third of respondents said they were more productive when using rail travel options compared with other options, and 29 percent said they saved time using trains, with avoiding airport delays and security lines outweighing the longer trip compared with air, the survey indicated. Respondents also noted productivity challenges with rail travel, with poor Wi-Fi connections, cited by 55 percent of respondents, and noise, cited by 48 percent of respondents, topping the list.
TravelPerk, which used its own platform’s booking data to round out the research, said just over half of companies are incentivizing their travelers to make greener travel choices, such as selecting rail.
