Green party wants to abolish flights between Amsterdam and Brussels

GroenLinks wants to completely abolish flights between the airports of Amsterdam and Brussels. According to the green party, the train on this route is "effectively almost always faster and always better for the environment". The measure can also relieve some pressure on the already overcrowded Schiphol, AD reports.

Several airlines, including KLM, fly between the Dutch and Belgium capitals several times per day. The flight time is 45 minutes, excluding security checks and waiting times at the busy airports, according to the newspaper. By car the 200 kilometers distance between Amsterdam and Brussels can be covered in around 2.5 hours, without traffic jams. And the flash train travels between Schiphol and Zaventem in around 2 hours, if there are no delays.

According to GroenLinks, the train is the best option to travel this route, both time-wise and environmentally. Parliamentarian Suzanne Kroger therefore wants the government to consult with all involved parties about "phasing out" scheduled flights between Amsterdam and Brussels. 

The party also launched an online petition to make the train the cheapest and easiest option for traveling distances less than 750 kilometers.