Is rail the ultimate corporate travel solution?

Imagine the perfect journey. What does it look like to you? Comfortable seats, plenty of legroom, smooth transit and scenic views? Now, add low emissions and minimal queuing or wasted time to the list. All this describes rail travel. Trains might just be the best corporate travel solution when it comes to sustainability, value, and traveller wellbeing. Let’s explore some of the key reasons why.

Corporate travel solution 1: Cost Efficiencies

For long-distance journeys, many travellers assume that low-cost airlines offer the cheapest option. However, with fuel prices on the rise, airfares have soared, making rail an increasingly attractive alternative. While rail ticket pricing can sometimes seem complex, there are many ways to save. For instance, our online booking tool, LOGiC Travel, offers split ticketing functionality for both domestic and international rail travel, ensuring travellers have quick and easy access the best fares possible.

What’s more, rail doesn’t come with the hidden costs that airlines often add on, like baggage fees or seat reservations. On trains, baggage is free, there are no 100ml restrictions on liquids, and most services offer complimentary Wi-Fi, allowing travellers work on the go. With less time wasted in airports and security queues, rail often turns travel dead time into productive time (more on this below). Plus, most train stations are located close to city centres, making it quicker, easier and usually greener to get to your destination compared to an out of town airport.

Corporate travel solution 2: Productive Travel Time

While flying might seem quicker on certain routes – like London to Edinburgh, which takes under an hour in the air – the convenience starts to fade when you factor in the time needed to travel to and from airports and pass through security. A direct train journey from London to Edinburgh takes about four hours, but it’s often faster when considering total travel time door to door. Even better, trains allow you to work or relax during the journey, making it far more productive.

Corporate travel solution 3: Traveller Wellbeing

As well as increased productivity, rail journeys can be better for business travellers’ wellbeing. They can avoid slow, stressful drives, or having to get up in the middle of the night for an early flight. Overnight trains like the Caledonian Sleeper offer a unique experience, allowing passengers to get a great night’s rest in private cabin beds and arrive at their destination fully refreshed. Travelling while asleep saves time, supporting a better work life balance. The sleeper train also saves on the financial and carbon costs of an extra night’s hotel stay.

Those with tighter budgets will be pleased to know that a partnership between Future Travel Studio and Alstom, has resulted in DreamSuite, a new train seat prototype that converts into a lie-flat bed, inspired by air travel recliners. This means even on long day trips, passengers can rest comfortably or work efficiently in a more relaxed environment. DreamSuite will be a mid-range option for long-distance travel, in-between the price of an overnight cabin and low-cost upright seating, designed to support the shift towards eco-conscious travel. Which leads us nicely to our next point.

Corporate travel solution 4: Lower Carbon Emissions

When comparing rail to cars and planes, trains are by far the most environmentally friendly option. According to the Rail Delivery Group’s Green Travel Pledge, rail can be up to 17 times greener than flying for business travel. On 93.3% of 80,000 business journeys studied, trains had significantly lower carbon emissions than petrol or diesel cars.

As companies increasingly prioritise sustainability in their travel policies, rail offers a practical way to reduce carbon footprints without sacrificing convenience. To help track travel spend and carbon usage, our specialist software, LOGiC Intelligence provides real-time data dashboards enabled by Power BI.

Did you know: a train between London and Edinburgh has a carbon cost of approximately 20kg CO2e, whereas a flight is around 106kg CO2e, on average?