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Author: Michael Harrison

Source: The Independent

Publication Date: 18^th April 2007

Eurostar, the high-speed rail service between London, Paris and Brussels, is set to become the world's first "carbon neutral" train operator.

The company announced yesterday that when the new Channel Tunnel Rail link is completed this November and Eurostar moves to its new terminus at St Pancras passengers will be able to travel without worrying about their carbon footprint. Where Eurostar cannot eliminate its own carbon emissions, it will buy carbon offsets, but only as a last resort and at no additional cost to passengers.

Eurostar also said it was joining companies such as Marks & Spencer by unveiling plans to cut its carbon dioxide emissions. In Eurostar's case, the target is a 25 per cent reduction by 2012. This will be achieved by installing energy meters on trains that encourage drivers to drive more economically, fitting controls to reduce energy consumption from lighting, heating and air conditioning, sourcing more electricity from "green" energy companies and making better use of existing train capacity.

The initiative was welcomed by Friends of the Earth, which calculated that if all passengers who fly between London, Paris and Brussels switched to the train, then it would reduce carbon emissions by 200,000 tonnes - the equivalent output of a city the size of Oxford.

Train travel produces only a tenth of the greenhouse gases per passenger of aeroplanes and Eurostar is aiming to attract more environmentally conscious travellers by widening the gap further. "It's time for the transport industry to do more to tackle climate change, instead of claiming that it makes a minimal contribution to global warming, or simply blaming other industry sectors," said Eurostar's chief executive, Richard Brown.

The renewed green initiative came as Eurostar reported a 13 per cent rise in first quarter revenues to £142m on the back of a 5 per cent increase in passenger numbers to 1.79 million. The strongest growth came in the business market where traffic levels were up by 14.5 per cent and revenues by 18.5 per cent.

When the new £5bn high-speed line to the tunnel opens fully this autumn, it will cut journey times by a further 25 minutes, cutting the trip to Paris to two hours and 15 minutes.

Added to the database on 9^th May 2007