The Rail Delivery Group has released new data showing that travelling by train produced lower carbon emissions than driving a petrol or diesel vehicle on the same route in 94 per cent of domestic UK journeys.
The group, which represents UK train operators, said it looked at domestic rail business journeys and compared their emissions to those created by travelling by petrol or diesel car as part of its Green Travel Pledge initiative.
RDG has made data on 40,000 point-to-point routes around the UK available through its Rail Data Marketplace platform. It is the second phase of comparison data after the group revealed in February that travelling by train on the UK’s top 100 business routes was almost nine times ‘greener’ than making the same journey by non-electric car.
The data can be used to allow business travellers to see the carbon emissions from different modes of transport for journeys (including rail, car or air) at the point of sale through travel management companies and online booking tools.
Jacqueline Starr, CEO of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We all have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint, so having our Green Travel Pledge data available through global and domestic travel management companies and online booking tools will enable more businesses to choose rail over other modes for business travel.
“We’re asking businesses to kickstart a movement towards more sustainable travel, with data on over 40,000 business routes available, and we’d like businesses to showcase their commitment to sustainability by using our industry-leading carbon data to make better and informed business travel decisions.”
The group provides data on train occupancy, fuel type, journey distance and other factors to create what it calls “detailed, accurate and reliable carbon emission data” for all direct business rail journeys across the UK.
Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association (BTA), said the RDG’s Green Travel Pledge was a “significant and meaningful advancement” in providing consistent data in carbon reporting.
“We are delighted with the launch of phase two of this pledge, which includes an additional 40,000 point-to-point business routes,” added Wratten. “This will further empower our TMCs to assist customers in making informed and sustainable travel choices.”
This data has been developed by RDG in partnership with Thrust Carbon, 3Squared, consultancy Black Box Partnerships and the wider rail industry.