eurostar Carbon Neutral from November, and A Little Faster

eurostar have decided to offset their CO2 emissions in full as from November 14th 2007. As part of their new ten point plan to "tread lightly" on the environment and reduce their emissions by 25% directly through efficiency and waste reduction by 2012. Consequently, changes across all areas of their business, from the big things like energy efficiency, paperless ticketing and waste management, through supply chain selection to smaller cultural changes like recycling in their offices.

Ten-Point Plan

• Reducing paper usage by switching to e-tickets and bar code ticketing downloaded to mobile phones; undertaking direct marketing via email and web-based information; and where paper is unavoidable, sourcing from sustainable forests or recycled paper, and recycling all used paper
• Separating, sorting and recycling all on-board waste, including food waste, by the most appropriate methods
• Ensuring on-board disposable items (e.g. cups, plates, napkins) are either biodegradable (made from maize extract) or fully recyclable
• Replacing train air-conditioning refrigerants with the less environmentally damaging chemical R134a by 2008 – seven years before the EU deadline
• Refurbishing or de-branding and recycling used staff uniforms
• Sourcing on-train food from local sources in UK, France or Belgium wherever available, including organic suppliers, or Fairtrade for overseas supplies
• Ensuring that lighting, heating and mechanical plant at stations, depots and offices are as energy efficient as possible; developing a ‘switch-off’ culture; and sourcing electricity from greener sources of energy
• Reusing water from train-washing at the new Temple Mills maintenance depot, and investing in rainwater collection to further reduce consumption
• Sorting and recycling waste from stations, offices and the Temple Mills maintenance depot, with the goal of zero disposal to landfill; and with 80 per cent of waste to be recycled by 2009
• Helping travellers reduce CO2 emissions when accessing Eurostar services by providing journey planner information and ticket sales for public transport options, and developing new travel initiatives and partnerships

It is faster to travel by train from London to Paris, than plane, after the opening of new high speed lines where trains can travel at up to 186mph, from the new home of eurostar at St Pancras. The journey from Paris to London, took a mere 2 hours 3 minutes and 39 seconds. The expected average journey time will be about 2 hours 15 minutes. Construction of the line and revamping St Pancras cost £5.8bn in public funds. Of the funding, £800m went on redeveloping St Pancras station, meaning the cost of installing the line was about £73.5m per mile. This compares with £28.4m to build a mile of a three-lane motorway in 2005, according to a Parliamentary answer from May last year.

"Today marks Britain's entry into the European high-speed rail club. 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."
Richard Brown, Eurostar, Chief Executive

Anticipated Journey Times

• London-Paris 2 hrs 15 mins
• London-Brussels 1hr 51 mins
• London-Lille 1hr 20 mins

Not only is it faster, it is also more environmentally friendly, even without the full offsetting of emissions, per passenger eurostar emissions are only 10.9kg of CO2 (London - Paris, Return Journey). In comparison, easyJet who I highlighted yesterday as being one of the most efficient airlines, emit 112kg of CO2 for the same return journey, plus this does not include the emissions from getting to out of city airports. To offset each passengers emissions will only cost about nine to twelve pence. Seven services to Paris and five to Brussels will start running from Ebbsfleet from 19 November and a ticket office has been opened at Bluewater Shopping Centre two miles from the station. Eurostar tickets from London to Paris start from £59 return.

"Doing nothing is not an option. What Eurostar is doing is a plan for the future."
Stuart Rose, Marks & Spencer, Chief Executive