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The 35% cut

One of our main commitments under Tread Lightly was to reduce our CO₂ emissions per traveller journey by 25% by 2012, using 2007 as a base year. This target has since been increased to 35%. Below you can see a few of the things we’ve had to consider in order to make the cut.

Most of the energy we use as a company is traction energy, which is the energy needed to move the train and power things on board like heating, lighting and air conditioning. It’s the biggest contributor to our CO₂emissions so it’s vital that we tackle it first and foremost.

Driving techniques

Just like with riding a bike, when driving a train a smoother ride uses less energy. We fitted one of our trains with a device that measures how much energy it’s using, so we can now see what factors affect how the trains are driven and develop ways to give our drivers dynamic information to help them drive in the most energy-efficient way possible.

On-board amenities

Our trains will also use less energy if the heating, lighting and air-conditioning work more efficiently. We’ve already made a change whereby all our trains run with half-lighting by default, with only the lights above the window being used, and by the end of 2009 we’ll have completed some modifications which will mean that only ceiling lights will be used. Not only does this use less energy than the window lights, but our travellers have told us it’s their preferred option.

Energy sourcing

Our trains run over four different networks (HS1, Eurotunnel, SNCF and SNCB) and our emissions are partly dependent on the energy suppliers who serve those networks. Energy from less carbon intensive sources means lower CO₂ emissions.

Traveller numbers

A full train will have lower emissions per traveller than an empty one, so it makes sense to run fewer services that are more busy, rather than a lot of quiet ones. We’re working hard to ensure that we balance the number of trains we run with the number of travellers that we carry.

We’ve already made some excellent progress, and in fact our target of 25% has already been reached. In fact, in 2008 our emissions per traveller journey were 31% lower in CO₂ than in 2007. This is mostly due to the fact that Eurotunnel have switched to a less carbon intensive energy supplier and that our traveller numbers have increased since our move to St Pancras International and the opening of High Speed 1.

With this in mind we’ve decided that rather than rest on our laurels, we’re going to increase our target to 35%. Although we expect the economic downturn to cause us to have lower load factors in 2009 (which will push our emissions per traveller journey up a bit again this year) we believe that the plans we have over the next few years to increase efficiencies will allow us to reach 35%. We intend to make the remaining reduction mainly through more energy-efficient train driving, and we’re also looking into how we can further improve the efficiency of our on-board amenities.

This page assured by Bureau Veritas April 2009. View our main assurance statement, including scope of work/limitations and findings.

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Quotes

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

"Eurostar is leading the way by making a real reduction."
Tony Juniper, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth

"Eurostar have set a transport industry benchmark."
Stephen Joseph, Executive Director, Transport 2000