At first glance, a Motorail service seems to be expensive. Extrapolating to more accurately, the unusual means of transport can be worth. Certainly – who traveled with the Motorail service in European countries, must spend usually a medium three-digit euro sum. It is so not exactly cheap to drive a complete travel company plus automobile across the continent. And no advertising campaign of the Deutsche Bahn will communicate the opposite holidaymakers. But comparing the costs with those of other methods of travel, the train cuts off surprisingly well.

Arrival by plane despite low cost flights is air travel is still always a very expensive way to reach the destination. This applies above all for families with older children, who have to pay the full or a little discount for their seat on the holiday plane. The place of residence of the family far from the place of departure is situated, extra costs add up, also for the arrival, in the worst case even for an overnight stay at the place of departure. Is still, to take into account that Low-cost airlines use only the most popular travel destinations, while other routes run more expensive commercial aircraft. And the airplane has a further clear disadvantage: who wants to be mobile at your holiday location, must pay for a car. Arriving by private car on the road who is even with the car, for the comparative calculation looks even friendlier. On long distances, car is especially superior to other modes of transport if it is fully occupied.

But here you must make no mistake: for a trip from Berlin to Northern Spain are to pay 300-400 euros – depending on the fuel consumption and current gasoline prices -. Even toll charges for road use as well as hard quantifiable costs come due to wear of the car. It is really expensive, if the destination more than a day’s drive away – then the family must pay: an overnight stay. From this point of view, a Motorail service can be a very useful and especially low-stress alternative. Jurgen Reschke.