The eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano on the 14th April grounded 100,000 flights in six days. Over the following weeks, further bursts closed airspace across a wide swath of Europe. According to industry figures, those initial six days cost airlines £1.1 billion in sales, and with the crater’s previous eruption lasting almost two years, volcanologists say there’s no immediate prospect of a reprieve for airlines.
Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia were worst hit by the initial shutdown, with the no-fly zone extending over central Europe as far as Italy and Russia. A second wave of ash closed terminals in Ireland and Scotland before spilling as far south as Spain, the Canary Islands and Morocco, with a third plume closing some of the region’s busiest terminals, including London Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol. In a joint statement on their websites, the Icelandic Met Office and the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Iceland University state that there are “no long term indications” that the eruption has ended. Although European airspace is currently free of restrictions, both the airline industry and their customers have to face the possibility of further volcanic disruption.
“This is becoming a big issue,” said Bob Atkinson, a consultant at a London-based internet travel agency, “Many people are now asking themselves whether they should risk booking a flight." Due to the frequency and necessity of their travel, many more passengers are now taking stock of the situation and the solution seems to be rail. Even before the disruption from Iceland's volcano, in the last four years, there has been a 19% drop in passenger numbers on the 10 main domestic air routes – equivalent to 2.2 million single journeys – whilst 1.5 million more people have boarded trains, a 31% rise according to the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc).
As news of the ash cloud broke, railway companies throughout Europe immediately convened, helping to avoid even greater chaos for travellers. By the time transport ministers met via video-conference, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) had already reacted strongly, by organising additional trains to satisfy sky-rocketing demand. Within hours, railways across Europe had laid on extra trains and coaches. In Italy, 21,300 additional seats were offered, and supplementary trains travelled on the main high-speed lines. In Spain, RENFE reinforced its schedule, especially on the line to Paris. Deutsche Bahn used all available trains to deal with the 30% rise in long-distance passenger traffic. Thousands of additional seats were guaranteed on the high-speed trains between France and Germany, France and Switzerland, and Switzerland and Germany. Eurostar put on 63 additional trains and carried around 50,000 extra passengers.
“The ash cloud has caused people to look at high-speed rail differently.”
Eurostar spokeswoman Mary Walsh
Eurostar spokeswoman Mary Walsh commented, "the ash cloud has caused people to look at high-speed rail differently.” Supporting this view, an independent online poll between the 21st and 23rd of April suggested 84% of travellers would “definitely” or “probably” choose trains over planes for travel from London to Paris and Brussels.
For many of the stranded passengers the journey home was long and often further complicated by the confounding variety of different rail networks and ticket systems operating within Europe. Bloggers and tweeters poured out their frustration as they negotiated a patchwork of passes and tickets on buses and trains. In stark contrast, those in possession of Europe wide rail passes, like the Eurail pass, could move overland with ease using one pass for the entire journey.
Aside from mass flight cancellations, the ash crisis also shone a spotlight on the rights of air passengers, as thousands entered into lengthy and complicated disputes for replacement flights or refunds. Many of these disputes still go unresolved. Conversely, rail passengers in Europe enjoy much wider protection, and those purchasing rail passes from bespoke travel operators such as Eurail can plan ahead without worry. Regardless of whether Iceland's volcano continues to cause problems, passengers using a Eurail pass can continue to travel at their leisure. In the event that pass-holders from further afield don't make it to Europe to start their trip, the Eurail Group GIE has a clear and generous refund policy in place, which in most cases is superior to its equivalent in the airline industry.
For many travellers, the disruption is the latest in a series of events to pique their interest in alternatives to air travel. Recently published in the New York Times, writer Seth Stevenson details his “blessedly jet-free interlude” during the volcanic crisis and wishes it would continue. He explains how his recent round-the-world trek, made without taking any flights, proved to him how dependent we’ve become on air travel.
Stevenson is the author of 'Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World', a travelogue based on his own flight-free world trip. At one point, the author likens air travel to “teleporting... [flying] doesn’t allow for the same kind of spiritual transformation you undergo whenever you make an overland trip”.
Expanding on this odd sense of displacement that comes with suddenly landing in a faraway destination, Stevenson explains how this experience led to an epiphany of sorts: flying in airplanes “is not really travelling. Airplanes are a means of ignoring the spaces in between your point of origin and your destination”, and he hopes that "some travellers stranded by the volcanic eruption have been able to discover the joys of slow travel for themselves.”
His experiences are not unique, as increasing frustration with air travel's complexity and at times inflexibility mean that a larger number of passengers are turning to agencies such as Eurail. Customers booking one of the many Eurail travel passes can adjust the time and region of travel to suit their needs. In the unlikely event that their trip is delayed, passengers simply call customer services and decide whether to have their travel pass postponed, exchanged or refunded. As austerity measures take hold across Europe, businesses and travellers alike are demanding this level of flexibility and security from their travel agencies.
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