Eurostar & environmentally friendly travel

Travelling by Eurostar train from London to Paris is more environmentally friendly than travelling by plane. Research has shown that flying between London, Paris and Brussels generates 10 times more greenhouse gas emissions than travelling by train.

Eurostar journies have been carbon neutral since 2007. If you want to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum, then take the train from London to Paris rather than fly.

Eurostar Trains and the Environment

Eurostar is working hard to save energy and reduce emissions. Since November 2007, Eurostar journeys have been designated carbon neutral, which means that Eurostar has already paid to compensate for all of its unavoidable CO2 emissions.

Eurostar launched their "Tread Lightly" programme. This set out Eurostar's plans to reduce any impact on the environment and further increase energy efficiency, and made a commitment to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 25% per traveller journey by 2012.

Eurostar trains have a new waste management facility, so that more of its waste can be recycled. Energy meters have been installed measure ways to operate more efficiently. Most of the Eurostar trains now come with more environmentally friendly refrigerants that keep the temperature cool on board without damaging the environment.

Eurostar's 10 Point Plan for more environmentally friendly train travel

As well as working in partnership with Friends of the Earth to promote ways of reducing the impact of climate change, Eurostar has also set a 10 point plan with objectives for the next three to five years.

• Separating, sorting and recycling all on-board waste
• Replacing train air-conditioning refrigerants to reduce environmental damage
• Helping and encouraging travellers to use public transport when travelling to Eurostar terminals
• Aiming for 80 per cent of waste from stations, offices and maintenance depot to be recycled.
• Ensuring that lighting and heating is as energy efficient as possibleand getting electricity from greener sources.
• Reusing water from train-washing at the maintenance depot, and developing rainwater collection to reduce water consumption.
• Reducing paper usage by using e-tickets and other technologies, and where paper is unavoidable, sourcing it from sustainable forests or recycled paper, and recycling all used paper.
• Ensuring on-board disposable items (e.g. cups, plates, napkins) are either biodegradable (made from maize extract) or fully recyclable.
• 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.

Take the train to Paris

Once you have included airport transfers, baggage collections and check-in times, travelling by train from London to Paris is far more efficient, quicker and convenient than flying. Be kinder to the environment - take the train from London to Paris.

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