One of the proposals to reduce the carbon footprint of transport in Europe is to replace part of the journeys currently made by private car or plane with train journeys. This change could have a major impact on the emissions generated during journeys to the most touristic cities, which are mostly reached by private car or plane. To achieve the substitution of air travel by AVE or night trains, the following actions would be necessary:

1.To stop subsidizing air travel so that rail can compete on an equal footing.
2.The travel time must be competitive between air and rail for distances up to 1,000 km and reasonable in night trains for distances up to 1,500-2,000 km.
3.The travel service connecting the major European cities and regional networks is adequate and sufficient, so that it is possible to travel normally by train at convenient fares.

If there is no decisive action by the EU administration to help remove obstacles of all kinds for these changes to take place, we may continue to have an inter-European rail network as disconnected as it is today (with some exceptions on the Franco-German axis). Bureaucratic obstacles must be removed: EU national governments should not hinder operators from any EU country who want to use the rail infrastructure if they meet the necessary technical requirements. Any action aimed at impeding free competition, such as extending the time periods for the approval of equipment, as the SNCF is doing with Spanish trains, must be corrected.