The French government is set to finance an expansion and improvement of its rail sector to the tune of EUR 100 million (USD 110 million). This will be done by increasing the tax on airline tickets.
The French Transport Minister, Clément Beaune, told the radio station RMC that people often say they are surprised by how much less plane travel costs than train travel. Beaune told Le Parisien that people who pay more for travel are usually those that are less sensitive to price increases—the implication being that the rise will be passed onto business travellers and those who buy the more expensive airfares and on those tickets where the airlines make more profit.
There is already a tax on airline tickets, but this will be increased to invest more in the railways. The measure is part of a wider plan to reduce carbon emissions across all sectors, not just travel, and will be introduced in the 2024 budget.
Source : Forbes
