Greener than flying

Eurostar emits ten times less CO₂ than flying to our core destinations

Before we launched our Tread Lightly initiative in April 2007, we commissioned some detailed research to find out exactly how much CO₂ is produced on a Eurostar journey.

The bottom line was that flying between London, Paris and Brussels generates ten times more emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) than travelling by Eurostar.  


The numbers
Here are our vital statistics.

Trip/Mode	kg CO2 per passenger trip (return)	Emissions saved by travelling on Eurostar equivalent to	g CO2 per passenger km
London-Paris (return)
Short-haul air (average) Heathrow	122	Charging 740 ipods	168
Eurostar	10.9		11
London-Brussels (return)
Short-haul air (average) Heathrow	160	345 hrs on a laptop	219
Short-haul air (average) Gatwick	222	35 London sightseeing bus tours.	322
Eurostar	18.3		24.3

The source
The research was carried out by an independent consortium of Paul Watkiss Associates and AEA Technology Environment. It uses detailed data on electricity supplies, power station emissions and transmission losses; Eurostar and airline load factors; and the range of aircraft and engine types and emissions.

The future of travel is here
Eurostar has also committed to generating even less CO₂ per traveller in future years. In fact, we will reduce CO₂ per traveller journey by 25% by the year 2012 compared to 2006.

Taking the train is now a truly attractive greener alternative to flying. Here are a few reasons why it’s now the most seamless way to travel through Europe.

High Speed 1, our new high speed line, runs straight into the heart of London, meaning faster journey times to and from the Continent. Eurostar has joined Railteam, a European partnership of high-speed operators, making connecting train travel in Europe even simpler, smoother and more seamless than ever.

Better still, UK travellers can now pay one fare to travel all the way from 68 UK domestic stations to 100s of Continental destinations. This will make taking the train from all parts of the UK to the Continent a much more attractive option.