One member of the Avon Energy team, Clare, recently took a trip to Switzerland. Clare opted to travel back from Switzerland by train. As she just got back, we wanted to catch up with her and find out a bit more about her exciting, green journey.
Clare, why did you choose to go by train?
I realised that travel makes up the biggest proportion of my carbon footprint and it is something I am aiming to reduce. I travel to and from Switzerland quite a lot and so wherever possible I am trying to avoid flying to reduce my carbon footprint and unnecessary CO2 emissions.
Do you know how many CO2 emissions were saved?
As for the CO2 emissions, travelling on the train vs by plane is a no brainer. Taking a plane would have been 177kg CO2, whereas the train was 6.86kg CO2. So, taking the train home reduced the emissions of my journey by 96% compared to if I had taken a flight! *
And how long did it take?
So the journey took 9 hours from Bern to London. When I first saw it would be 9 hours I thought that was super long. But when you factor in the time it takes to travel to and from the airport along with the wait at the airport, there suddenly isn’t much in it. And you know what, the time flew by …
How was the journey overall?
And as for the comfort, I find sitting on a train is very enjoyable. I was able to work the whole journey, skip the faff of the airport and pick up a croissant from a bakery in a french town on route!
And how much did it cost you?
The costs are a major set back to travelling by train. At the time of purchasing the ticket, the flight was £13 vs the train at £133. The extremely low price of short haul flights entices consumers to take this option. However, once I added on the cost of a bag (£40) , the costs of the trains either side (£20 in Switzerland and £25 in the UK), the prices weren’t too dissimilar at £98 for the flight and £133 for the train.
So next time you are thinking of jumping on a short haul flight, have a look at whether you can take the train instead!
*Method for CO2 emission calculations:
High speed trains in Switzerland and France = 3.2g CO2 per km
Eurostar Lille to London = 3.68kg CO2
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