We did the same journey by plane and train to compare waiting times, delays and travel time.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Most of us automatically book a flight when we're going on holiday but have you
00:04have considered that it might actually be quicker to take a train? I decided to
00:09put it to the test and travel between London UK and Lyon France by aeroplane on
00:12the way there and train on the way back. So it is 5 past 7 and I am just leaving
00:18the house in London starting my trip to Lyon. First of all I'm going to take a
00:23cab to the station and then I'm taking a train to Luton Airport. So yeah let's see
00:28how far I get in an hour. It's exactly 8 a.m. and I'm just leaving the house to
00:33start my trip back to the UK. This time I'm taking the train. So I'll see you in
00:37an hour to see how I've got on. It was a short bus ride to the station where I
00:41boarded the train.
00:46I travelled business class on the train which felt like a real treat.
00:53One hour into my journey by plane and I was about seven stops away from Luton Airport.
00:58So it's an hour since I left my house and I got to the train station. I waited in the train station.
01:04I'm on the train and we have crossed to the station at the other side of Lyon and we're about to leave to Paris.
01:16I just got to the airport. So that is one hour and 50 minutes since leaving the house.
01:20I need to check in, get through security and then I'll check back and leave.
01:25So it's 5 past 9, exactly two hours since I left the house and I'm now at the
01:29airport. Bag is checked in and I'm through security and in the departures lounge.
01:33Meanwhile on the train.
01:38The train journey was delightfully calm and quiet. Perfect for a bit of reading.
01:46And before I knew it I was pulling into Paris.
01:53So I'm now three hours into my journey and I've just arrived in Paris.
01:58So I'm now at Gare de Lyon so I need to cross the city to Gare du Nord so I can take the Eurostar to London.
02:01Things weren't going so well on the plane journey.
02:04Okay so it's now 5 past 10 and I've been in the airport for an hour and I should have been boarding.
02:09I've just found out that my flight is delayed. So I've been here for an hour and I've made no progress.
02:14So I haven't moved and it looks like I'm going to be here for another hour without any progress, which is great.
02:21Back in Paris I was navigating the metro system on my way to Gare du Nord.
02:28Once I was at the station I just needed to check in for the Eurostar.
02:32They recommend you arrive 60 to 90 minutes before your train in case there's any big queues.
02:35So I'm now on hour 4 of my journey and I'm at Gare du Nord.
02:40I've just checked in for security and I've leaved my passport control so now I'm just waiting for my train.
02:48Meanwhile in the airport...
02:51So I've just hit hour 4 of my journey. I'm still in the airport but I'm on my way to the gate.
02:55So hopefully no more delays.
03:02On both the plane and train journey it was time to board.
03:07At hour 5 I was finally taking off on my flight from London to Lyon.
03:15I'm now on hour 5 of my journey and I've just got on the Eurostar. I'll be setting off in about 10 minutes.
03:20So I've just hit hour 6 of my journey. I'm on the Eurostar. I'm just having a nice breakfast and I think we've got like another hour and a half to go before we get to London. Something like that.
03:42At hour 6 on my flight I'd fallen asleep but when I woke up I did get this lovely view.
03:51Around the same time we landed in France we entered the Channel Tunnel on the train.
03:57The queue for passport control in Lyon went on for ages.
04:02For the Eurostar you go through both French and British border control before boarding the train so there's no queues when you arrive at the other side.
04:09At hour 7 I was still in the queue and pretty fed up.
04:14We have just hit hour 7 of the journey. I'm still on the Eurostar but we're now on the England side and we're about half an hour into London.
04:24I thought I'd give you a little update. I'm about 7 and a half hours into my journey. I've just got off the airport and I'm on my way to get the train into town.
04:34On my train journey I was just pulling into London.
04:36So I've just arrived in St Pancras and we're now on 7 hours and 40 minutes. So now it's just a quick journey home.
04:54It is hour 8 and I've just arrived in the centre of Lyon so I'm about to get a cab to where I'm staying. So I'm almost there.
04:59So it took me 8 hours and 25 minutes door to door but I have arrived by plane.
05:13So after 8 hours and 10 minutes I'm finally back having taken the train from Lyon to London.
05:19And I guess it goes to show that taking a train doesn't take longer than flying.
05:22There's the downside that you don't get to hand your suitcase in and be baggage free all day
05:26but when taking the train produces 14 times less emissions
05:29than a flight from London to Paris it's definitely worth the difference.