Eurostar in "Green" Drive to Take on Airlines
Date: 18-Apr-07
Country: UK
Author: Pete Harrison
Eurostar, which links London with Paris and mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel, said it would cut CO2 emissions by 25 percent per passenger by 2012 by improving the efficiency of its trains and sourcing power from greener electricity generators.
"We do know that a high-speed rail journey is 10 times greener than flying," said Eurostar Chief Executive Richard Brown. "The low-cost airlines phenomenon has come up over the last 10 years. We're looking to attract more passengers to travel with us."
Environmental group Friends of the Earth said it was backing use of Eurostar as a means of cutting UK greenhouse gas emissions without damaging people's travel plans and lifestyles.
"Something like 80 percent of takeoffs and landings in Britain are to and from European destinations," said Friends of the Earth's Tony Juniper.
"Aviation emissions are particularly damaging," he added. "Being able to reduce shorthaul flights is going to make a big difference."
Low-cost flights grew by 13 percent globally last year, according to consultants OAG.
In a review of the economics of climate change last year, Nicholas Stern put aviation's share at 1.6 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, its contribution to global warming was two to four times that because of altitude effects.
NO EXTRA CHARGE
Where Eurostar cannot eliminate CO2 emissions, it will invest in carbon offsetting schemes at its own expense, it added.
"We will bear the cost of making every journey carbon neutral," said Brown. "We will not charge a penny extra."
Carbon offsetting allows companies to counterbalance their own emissions by buying carbon credits from other firms or countries that have reduced emissions.
Brown said Eurostar trains currently generate around 50,000 tonnes of CO2 a year and most of this would be offset from November when the group launches its new high speed link to continental Europe from London's St Pancras station.
From this point, all Eurostar aims to make all journeys carbon neutral.
"We don't yet know the cost of that," he told Reuters. "It could be a good many hundreds of thousands of pounds. It could be a million."
He also said Eurostar could compete with low-cost airlines on price. Easyjet's website quoted a return flight to Paris on May 17 at around 55 pounds on Tuesday, while Eurostar's website quoted 54 pounds.
France's SNCF railway and Belgium's SNCB are responsible for the running of Eurostar services on their own territory.
On the British side this is done by the ICRR consortium, which comprises National Express Group Plc, which has a 40 percent stake, SNCF with 35 percent, SNCB with 15 percent and British Airways Plc with 10 percent.
Eurostar said on Tuesday its first quarter sales rose 13 percent to 142 million pounds (US$282.8 million), with traveller numbers up 5.4 percent to 1.79 million.