Over the years we have reported on the growing number of European airlines adopting rail-air policies.

However one carrier, namely KLM of The Netherlands, has been a laggard.

Despite operating a “Fly Responsibly” campaign for the past couple of years, little progress has been made in transferring customers to rail over short sectors.

I was reminded of this fact by a tweet from All Rail which referenced KLM’s sluggishness.

Treinreiziger.nl reports on several bodies investigating possible rail-air scenarios for KLM.

But as Treinreiziger.nl notes,  “It is remarkable that this investigation is only now starting.”

Six possible rail-air routes to KLM’s Schiphol hub will now be considered. They are to and from: Brussels, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Berlin.

However of these would consider only three are feasible: Brussels, Paris and Dusseldorf.

The others must be ruled out for the foreseeable future owing to lengthy journey times and other limitations.

Why has KLM been so slow in adopting rail-air?

Well one must remember that transfer passengers are vital to KLM. Without them KLM would be unable to sustain its global network.

KLM is therefore reluctant to allow another party to transport them.

See our article below:

KLM to offer rail option for Brussels-Amsterdam passengers

 

Granted in pre-Covid days we saw limited rail-air progress with Brussels-Amsterdam.

One awaits further progress in 2021.

klm.com