Media Centre

On track for greener travel in Edinburgh

21 May 2008

National Express East Coast ‘inflates’ the carbon footprint debate

If you want an efficient, hassle-free method of travel that helps to reduce your carbon footprint and do your bit to save the planet, choose the train, says National Express East Coast.

A new study, commissioned by the East Coast Main Line train operator, reveals that travelling by train between Edinburgh and London is the least environmentally damaging mode of transport, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, compared to air or road travel.

Research shows that a single rail journey between Edinburgh and London generates an average 27kg of CO2 emissions per passenger, compared with a staggering 84kg CO2e per passenger by air and 76kg CO2e by car.

To illustrate just how ‘low carbon’ rail travel is, National Express East Coast today (21 May 2008) displayed hundreds of green, black and grey balloons outside Edinburgh Waverley station, representing the CO2 emission figures for a train, ‘plane and car journey between Edinburgh and London.

The train operator has also launched a new ‘modal shift’ marketing campaign to specifically target those who regularly fly or drive from Edinburgh to London by promoting the environmental and ‘productivity’ benefits of travelling by train over air or car.

David Franks, Managing Director at National Express East Coast, says: “People are increasingly concerned with the impact their actions and choices have on our environment and travel is one area where big changes can be made to reduce individuals’ carbon footprint with little effort."

“Rail travel is substantially lower in harmful greenhouse gas emissions than car or air travel but it is also cheaper and more punctual making it the best choice all round.

“National Express East Coast hopes to encourage travellers to wave goodbye to long queues at airport check in and road-side breakdowns and instead sit back and relax on one of our trains - safe in the knowledge that they are doing their bit to protect the environment from the damaging effects of CO2.”

Along with cutting carbon emissions, rail travel also cuts costs. On average, rail is the cheapest way to travel from Edinburgh to London at only 15p per mile, compared to 32p per mile by air and 55p per mile by car on a single journey.

Rail is also more punctual than air travel between Edinburgh and London. Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority and the train operator’s performance data, has revealed that on average, rail journeys between the two cities were 21 per cent more punctual than travelling by plane during 2007.

The new ‘modal shift’ campaign is part of a wider commitment from National Express to educate people on the benefits of travelling by low carbon transport. The company is also looking at ways in which to minimise its own impact on the environment, including signing up to a renewable energy contract with e-on, investing in regenerative braking and driver training, and reducing site energy across its 300 sites.

Visitors to the display also took advantage of the opportunity to speak to the ‘National Express East Coast Carbon Crew’ about ways to reduce their carbon footprint when travelling.

ENDS

Note to editors:

Commissioned by National Express, the study has been produced by Best Foot Forward (BFF), one of Europe’s leading sustainable consultancies. BFF are specialists in ecological and carbon footprint analysis and in 2005 was conferred the prestigious Queen’s Award for Business in Sustainable Development.

A full copy of the report ‘Determining the carbon footprint of the East Coast line and alternative transport modes’ is available from the National Express East Coast press office.

Cost per mile data sources:
Journeys for rail are calculated between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross stations. Estimated distance for car journeys has been taken from the AA website, www.theaa.com. Journeys for air are between Edinburgh airport and London Heathrow.

Average single fares have been obtained from rail and airline websites, using webflyer.com and theAA.com route planner to calculate journey distances. Average air fares are based on journeys from Edinburgh airport to London Heathrow and are inclusive of taxes. Cost per mile does not include the cost of transfers between airport and city centre.

Punctuality data sources:
Punctuality data for 2007 (January to December inclusive) is publicly available information produced by the Civil Aviation Authority (for air travel) and National Express East Coast’s performance department.

On average, 87 per cent of trains between Edinburgh and London arrived on time compared to 69 per cent of planes.

Right-time arrival for both planes and trains is based on the CAA’s definition for domestic flights of arriving within 0-15 minutes of schedule (0-10 minutes is the standard rail industry performance measure).

For more information contact:
Media Centre

t: 0845 059 3988 or 0845 059 3494
e: media.centre@nationalexpress.com

About National Express East Coast

National Express East Coast operates 137 weekday train services along the East Coast Main Line, linking London King's Cross, the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside, North East England and Scotland, carrying more than 17.4 million passengers a year.

Out of normal office hours (17.30 to 09.00 hours) please call 08700 005151 and ask for the duty press officer to be paged.

Visit the National Express East Coast Media Centre at mediacentre.nationalexpresseastcoast.com for a full image library and press release archive.