Recently the web-site anna.aero did a comparison of domestic European air fares. Their scenario was that someone was told on Monday that on the following Friday he'd need to make a business trip, leaving around 8:00 and returning around 17:00. The full (and very interesting) article can be found on www.anna.aero.

The city pairs were Paris - Toulouse, London - Glasgow, Madrid - Barcelona, Munich - Berlin, Rome - Milan, Stockholm - Gothenburg and Oslo - Bergen. He would have hand baggage only and would look for the cheapest fare.

I did a very quick and cheerful comparison of those results and the comparable train journey. In most cases, the comparison is reasonable: the passenger would have a reasonably comparable amount of time at the destination whichever mode they used. The research said nothing about exact origin and destination points, although since low-cost carriers have been used some of the airports are remote from their cities. Only in the case of Oslo-Bergen would the traveller not have had much time for their meeting - although they would have experienced some glorious scenery!

If you compare rail and legacy carrier, in all cases the rail fare is less than the air fare - in four cases by over 300 Euros. Only in two cases is the difference trivial (30 - 60 Euros).

If you compare rail with a new entrant (low cost) carrier, there are 3 routes where it's cheaper by air (by 3, 24 and 63 Euros). In the rest it's between 70 and 223 Euros more expensive by air.

Fascinating!