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hubie writes:

It's official: France bans short haul domestic flights in favour of train travel:

France has been given the green light to ban short haul domestic flights.

The European Commission has approved the move which will abolish flights between cities that are linked by a train journey of less than 2.5 hours.

[...] France is also cracking down on the use of private jets for short journeys in a bid to make transport greener and fairer for the population.

Transport minister Clément Beaune said the country could no longer tolerate the super rich using private planes while the public are making cutbacks to deal with the energy crisis and climate change.

[...] The ban on short-haul flights will be valid for three years, after which it must be reassessed by the Commission.

"[This] is a major step forward in the policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions," transport minister Beaune said in a press release.

[...] Sarah Fayolle, Greenpeace France transport campaign manager, told Euronews that there were both "negative and positive aspects" to the European Commission's decision given that only three routes are affected.

"It's going in the right direction, but the initial measure is one that's (not very) ambitious. We must go even further," she said.

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