Eurostar going greener and looking to expand destinations into Europe
If you’re taking a rail trip to the continent, you’ll be starting the journey with Eurostar as all trains to Europe from London use their service.
Currently 8 out of 10 passengers on the London to Paris and London to Brussels train routes use the Eurostar. But there are still some 20 million people flying annually from London and the south east to short haul European destinations. Eurostar is now aiming to double the current number of people using the high-speed rail line to reach destinations beyond Paris and Brussels, from 2.5 million passengers to 5 million by 2013.
Simplifying timetables and ticketing
The rail operator will be working with UK train companies like South West Trains and Virgin and operators in Europe such as TGV to simplify timetables and sell single tickets for European rail travel. It’s hoped it will provide a major boost to the numbers of Brits travelling to Europe by train.
Better for the environment
Flights create 10 times more CO2 emission than the equivalent train journey, so rail travel into Europe is the green option. And if the proposed High Speed 2 rail network is approved travelling to Europe by train will become even faster and more convenient, too.
And as well as helping the environment by promoting more rail journeys to Europe, Eurostar has also announced it will cut its overall carbon footprint by 25% by 2015. It’s not only to reach the target by changing its own business practices, but aims to cut the CO2 emissions of its suppliers by 25% as well.
Eurostar’s sustainability initiatives
Eurostar has been leading on sustainability since 2007 when it launched its Tread Lightly campaign, and has already cut emissions per traveller journey by 25%. It’s now raised the bar to cut per traveller emissions by 35% by 2012.
Other Eurostar green initiatives include:
• recycling or converting from waste to energy 11,000 tonnes of onboard train refuse
• reducing the onboard waste that goes to landfill to just 1.6%, from 47.5% in 2007
• recycling around 90% of the water used to wash trains
• removing ticket wallets and timetables, saving 87 tonnes of paper each year
All in all, it’s good news for the environment, and great news for rail travellers.