Geopolitics
The awakening of the rail?
Passengers board a train bound for the west of England, ahead of a planned nationwide strike by railway workers, at Paddington station in London, Britain, June 20, 2022 (image from drawing).
© REUTERS - TOBY MELVILLE
By: Marie-France Chatin Follow
1 min
Relegated to the background in recent decades in favor of the automobile and the plane, the train is making a comeback.
It must be said that its carbon footprint is rather flattering: 3.37 grams of CO2 emitted per passenger per kilometer against 110 for the car and between 73 and 254 for the plane.
The train is therefore in perfect resonance with the growing climate challenge and, for Europe, a liberalization of the sector.
Advertising
Rail's period of greatness was the 19th century, but after a trough, the train is now placed at the heart of geopolitical issues.
For both freight and passengers, this mode of transport is on the rise.
This relaunch, however, is not without clashes.
The railway system as an expression of power, of domination over a territory, a stake in rivalries.
A look at the great railway game that is taking place.
Guests:
Jean-Jacques Hervé
, foreign trade adviser to France, President of
the French Academy of Agriculture
, former agricultural adviser to
the French Embassy in Moscow
and former adviser to the Ukrainian government for agricultural issues.
Antoine Pecqueur
, Journalist and author of
Geopolitics of the rail - The train at the heart of contemporary issues
,
published by Otherwise.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Geopolitical knowledge
Transportation
On the same subject
International reporting
Germany: the success of the nine-euro train ticket
DRC: relaunch of Kinshasa's urban train to fight traffic jams
France: the government is betting on the return of night trains