Trains use approximately 10 times less carbon than planes and are hugely popular, making them a viable option for ‘light greens’ and ecologists alike. Choosing to take the train over a short flight will for many represent the biggest single step they can take to slash their carbon footprint.
However, Train Smart argues that cost, convenience, aggressive marketing and a very favourable tax regime have enabled the low cost airline industry to become the transport of choice over middle and longer distances. It calls on consumers, rail companies and governments to act now to tip the scales in favour of trains for inter-city travel. It has called on government to set itself a target for shifting travel from air to train, particular for journeys within the UK – and warns that current policies to raise fares faster than inflation are going in precisely the wrong direction.
Train Smart aims to ramp up the urgency and political expediency of making train travel cheaper and convenient by using direct action. It plans to connect climate change activists, passengers alarmed by annual price hikes, poor service and over-crowding, and hedonists who relish the journey as much as reaching their destination.
Actions will aim to mobilise a media-savvy majority, blending cultural events, humour, style and relentless optimism. Mass actions will be designed to appeal to first-timers, offering a more engaged and satisfying update on letter-writing, wristbands and SMS pledging.
For its first action, Train Smart is threatening to target the Vatican due to its announcement last week that it has decided to charter flights to carry pilgrims to scared sites such as Lourdes in France, and the shrine of Fatima in Portugal.
A spokesperson for Train Smart said, “The Vatican is not just failing to provide moral leadership on the most important issue facing the world today: it is deliberately profiting from encouraging fairly short air trips, which are the worst from an environmental perspective.
Past pilgrims believed that a slower, more sociable and contemplative journey to sacred sites was integral to the experience – the opposite of these ‘fast food’ style pilgrimages.”
Organisers of Train Smart are offering Father Cesare Atuire at the Vatican pilgrimage office help to design pilgrimages by train, and better understand how faith communities can be in the vanguard of climate action. But if a change of heart is not forthcoming, they will take action.
Meanwhile, the broader priority for Train Smart is to recruit an eclectic set of supporters: “The Camp for Climate Action has challenged all of us to act. But we need to adopt a wider range of methods and styles to support personal and institutional change across the board. We need to persuade the Blue Chip and City suits, Marbella Man and Primark Girl that it’s better to be green. People want to do the right thing, but they need encouragement. Urging them to take the train is an easy win – and an effective gateway to further behavioural change.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
(1) Plane Stupid is the first national direct action campaign targeting the aviation industry. The campaign calls for an end to short hauls by air, an end to airport expansion and a tax on aviation fuel. For details, see www.planestupid.com.
(2) The Camp for Climate Action is a loose coalition of environmental groups working together to raise awareness of the need for urgent action on climate change. Their second camp was held at Heathrow August 14-21. See www.climatecamp.org.uk for more.
(3) Plane talking:
a. Curbing aviation growth represents the best preventive strategy we have on climate change since emissions from planes form a relatively small part of the mix today, but are the fastest-growing. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research estimates that emissions from aircraft are projected to treble by 2050, representing as much as a third of UK emissions.
b. The poor family’s annual holiday is not the victim of cuts. To the contrary, the middle and business classes are responsible for the rapid increase in emissions from flying. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of leisure trips taken from UK airports fell by 13% among people with a salary of less than £14,374 pa, while they rose by over a fifth among those earning over £28,750 pa (Air Passenger Survey 2006, Civil Aviation Authority). Manchester and Paris are the most popular destinations from Heathrow.
c. The aviation industry has grown and operators such as Easy Jet and Ryan Air have emerged without paying the true costs of business. The Department for Transport (DfT) is estimated to subsidise the industry to the tune of £10.4bn annually, due to a failure to impose fuel duty and VAT (World Development Movement 2007).
d. Emissions from air travel are a very British problem. One in 5 flights worldwide leaves or arrives in a British airport; 70% of their passengers are British.
(4) Train talking:
a. Not travelling is an option, and the lowest carbon mode of transport will always depend on the particular itinerary. But the government confirms that taking the train emits, on average, approximately 10 times less carbon than flying, and 5 times less than taking the car.
b. However, the DfT continues to make rail the poor man of transport:
i. While the low cost air industry has mushroomed, rail travel just keeps getting more expensive. Last year, ticket prices for trains rose by an average of 7%. Six out of ten fares aren’t capped. Uncapped fares rose by as much as 30% on some lines.
ii. Furthermore, the DfT expects the proportion passengers pay towards the cost of rail travel to nearly double by 2014, raising concerns of anti-competitive behaviour from the Office of Rail Regulation.
c. Second class ticket holders represent 90% of passengers. Yet they occupy only 50% of the space.
(5) On faith and fallibility:
a. Last summer, the Bishop of London pronounced air travel a sin and Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated, “We are not consumers of what God has made. We are in communion with it.” The comments were made as the Church of England undertook a commitment to cut its carbon emissions by 40% by 2050.
b. By contrast, the Vatican appears to be cashing in on climate misery, hoping that liveried aircraft, headrests stamped with the words, “I’m Searching for Your Face, Lord”, and on-board religious guides will prove compelling for the 8 million annual pilgrims to Lourdes alone.
Train Smart
Train Smart is an unincorporated social movement currently in development. Supporters have professional backgrounds in media and the arts, travel, social change and policy-making. It enjoys access to tens of thousands of activists through established networks.
Train Smart is independent of Plane Stupid and the Camp for Climate Action and is not a religious organisation. It is committed to non-violent action.
Train Smart is further defining its objectives and programming through the autumn, but it is likely to seek:
An end to short hauls by plane;
Price parity between train and air travel for inter-city journeys in the UK and across Europe;
Transparency on pricing and fast, integrated booking across Europe;
An end to ‘battery carriages’ in second class and other barriers to a train culture for transcontinental travel.
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