Eurostar vs. Planes: It’s Not Just About the Green

by Sami Grover
Eurostar, the operator running trains between London and Paris, and London and Brussels, is increasingly painting itself as the green alternative to flying. We’ve previously written about their study claiming 90% fewer emissions than equivalent flights, and we’ve also featured their ambitious goal of reducing these already meager emissions by a further 25% [...]

by Sami Grover
Eurostar, the operator running trains between London and Paris, and London and Brussels, is increasingly painting itself as the green alternative to flying. We’ve previously written about their study claiming 90% fewer emissions than equivalent flights, and we’ve also featured their ambitious goal of reducing these already meager emissions by a further 25% and offsetting the rest. Now it seems that they are competing with airlines on more than just greenness. Trains on the newly upgraded line look set to come in with a 20 minute shorter journey time than before, and they are even aiming to compete on price with their airborne counterparts. This from the BBC:

Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, said he hoped that by 2010 10m people would travel by Eurostar each year. “Today marks Britain’s entry into the European high-speed rail club.” He said journey times to Paris, even for people travelling from Yorkshire, would be broadly the same as for those flying due to lengthier check-in times at airports. “It’s as quick and more frequent… and we will be matching airline prices.”

We welcome any moves to make trains more competitive with aviation, and while we are sure there is significant embodied energy involved in upgrading lines like this, the dramatic difference in operating emissions should make Eurostar the winning environmental choice for some time to come.