The Green Traveller Digest
My digest of green travel in the news compiled by Richard Hammond
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New London to Edinburgh budget train service
FirstGroup is to launch a budget London to Edinburgh rail service on the East Coast line next month. The new service, branded Lumo, will have just one single class of travel - 60% of seats will cost £30 or less with a max fare of £69 one-way, reports the Guardian.
Ski holidays by train return for 2021/22 Patrick Thorne's website inthesnow.com reports on the green light for the ski train (of sorts) this winter - ski resort operator Travelski (owned by Compagnie des Alpes) will be running a specially chartered 'Travelski Express' rail route from London to 12 French ski destinations. As Daniel Elkan reports on his site snowcarbon.co.uk: "The only way to buy tickets for the Travelski Express is as part of a Travelski package with train, accommodation, transfer and a seven-day ski pass all included".
The Travelski Express train will leave St Pancras on Friday evenings arriving into Moutiers and then Bourg St Maurice the following morning. Transfers will then be waiting at the stations to take guests direct to their accommodation in Tignes, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Meribel, Les Menuires or Val d’Isere. 7-day lift passes are included in the package to enable skiers to ski on arrival day and maximize their ski experience.
CEO of Travelski, Guillaume de Marcillac said: “We know that a high proportion of British skiers would like to take the train for their ski holidays. As well as being environmentally advantageous, it is also easy, comfortable and delivers you to the heart of the resorts that are constantly popular with British skiers. Through our exclusive tie up with Eurostar we are now able to offer a rail inclusive package that will appeal to many skiers, especially families. Our packages allow you to check in at our dedicated desk at St Pancras, safe in the knowledge that transport to your accommodation will all then taken care of. We feel that this is a very interesting and valuable addition to our existing portfolio of ski holidays throughout the French resorts”.
New start-up claims to be UK’s first carbon neutral coach operator
Trade newspaper Travel Weekly reports on the launch of TourEasy, a new coach tour operator that it says "claims to be UK’s first carbon neutral coach holiday tour operator."
Wind Power: The Future of Sustainable Travel?
The BBC's Rajan Datar boards one of the biggest sailing ships ever built to find out "if wind-powered cruises could be a cleaner way to enjoy a holiday at sea". Watch the BBC Travel Show: The Future of Sustainable Travel.
Climate impact of a transatlantic flight could cost global economy £2,170
In the weeks leading up to COP26 there will be many more stats like this that the travel industry is going to have to reckon with: a return flight UK-New York (a tonne of carbon dioxide emitted) could cost global economy more than £2,170 in the long run, reports the Guardian
The six problems aviation must fix to hit net zero
The Observer has published a list of some of the "big hurdles the sector will need to overcome if it is ever to be carbon neutral".
Norway bans helicopters and submarines in Svalbard tourism crackdown
The Times reports that Norway has imposed restrictions on visitors to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and is "banning cruise liners from offering helicopter and submarine rides amid growing concern about the impact of tourism on its fragile environment".
Is it time to put a price on carbon?
The case for it is made eloquently by Stephen Glaister, Professor Emeritus of Transport and Infrastructure at Imperial College London, read the article on the website of Greener Transport Solutions
Using technology to make your business more sustainable
I was on an online panel this week at the Travel Technology Show with Hjörtur Smárason, CEO - Visit Greenland and Horst Bayer of TravelHorst to discuss how technology can make businesses more sustainable. It was chaired by former Times and Sunday Times online travel editor Steve Keenan (Co-founder Travel Perspective).
Travelling by train abroad
If you're confused about the latest requirements for travelling by train overseas, The Man in Seat 61 has produced a detailed country-by-country round-up in his Coronovirus update that's "intended to point you in the right direction" - though he does urge readers to double-check things at the official sites as things keep changing.
In case you missed it:
There are some stunning photos in this year's Mangrove Photography Awards
And finally...
Why it's time to change the way we talk about climate change
The World Economic Forum has published an article that calls for a change in the way that we talk about climate change, focusing less on the "abstract, intangible and scary" and more on solutions that translate into people's experience of everyday life.
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