Academic studies and recent social movements alike highlight the importance of changing flying behavior for reaching global climate goals. A particularly effective strategy for minimizing transport-related CO2 emissions is to substitute flights with train travel. The same trip causes around 80–90% less CO2 emissions by train than by plane. The results of this paper are based on two independent samples, the first representing the Swiss population, the second one including international business students. Both empirical studies consistently show that respondents who are familiar with train travel are also more prone to consider the train as an alternative for international, long-distance trips. Furthermore, both studies find systematic differences when it comes to travel time perceptions of likely air and train travelers: While people who are inclined to travel by plane see a high value in minimizing the total travel time of their journey, likely train travelers put less emphasis on minimizing total travel time. At the same time, prospective train travelers find it highly important to be able to use their travel time productively, which does not seem to be the case for potential air travelers. As consumer insights about the willingness to substitute flying with train travel are rare, the results of this paper build a basis for developing communication strategies and policies aiming at increasing low-carbon travel mode choices.

学术研究和最近的社会运动都凸显了改变飞行行为对实现全球气候目标的重要性。最大限度减少与运输相关的CO2排放的一种特别有效的策略是用火车旅行代替航班。相同的旅程使火车的二氧化碳排放量比飞机减少大约80–90％。本文的结果基于两个独立的样本，第一个样本代表瑞士人口，第二个样本包括国际商科学生。两项经验研究均一致地表明，熟悉火车旅行的受访者也更倾向于将火车视为国际长途旅行的替代选择。此外，两项研究在对可能的航空旅客和火车旅客的出行时间感知上都发现了系统的差异：虽然倾向于乘飞机旅行的人在最大程度地减少旅途中的总旅行时间上看到了很高的价值，但可能的火车旅行家却不太注重减少总旅行时间。同时，潜在的火车旅行者发现，能够高效地利用他们的旅行时间非常重要，而潜在的航空旅行者似乎并非如此。由于很少有消费者对用火车旅行替代飞行的意愿的见解，因此本文的结果为制定旨在增加低碳旅行模式选择的交流策略和政策奠定了基础。潜在的火车旅行者发现，能够高效地利用其旅行时间非常重要，而潜在的航空旅行者似乎并非如此。由于很少有消费者愿意用火车旅行替代飞行的见解，因此本文的结果为制定旨在增加低碳旅行模式选择的交流策略和政策奠定了基础。潜在的火车旅行者发现，能够高效地利用其旅行时间非常重要，而潜在的航空旅行者似乎并非如此。由于很少有消费者愿意用火车旅行替代飞行的见解，因此本文的结果为制定旨在增加低碳旅行模式选择的交流策略和政策奠定了基础。