Tausi Insider

In Western Europe, airlines are losing the battle to preserve their lucrative short-haul routes. Soon, they may not legally be able to fly them. Their loss, unimaginable among U.S. and Canadian airlines, marks a rare victory for the planet. Take the route from Rome, where I live, to Milan. It never occurs to me to fly between the two cities, even though the distance between them is about 600 kilometres – the same distance as Toronto to Montreal. The Trenitalia site offers 42 high-speed departures from Rome on any weekday. Rival Italo – there is healthy rail competition in Italy – offers 33. Knowing a train leaves every few minutes for Milan, I never book ahead. I take the metro to Rome’s central train station, pop my credit card into a ticket machine and am rolling a few minutes later. The trains hit 300 kilometres an hour or more – almost turboprop speeds – which means I can be in central Milan in three hours. And, since the trains are electric, my travel is emission-free, as if I w...