Welcome to our third sustainable travel roundup, created in collaboration with Flight Free UK, where we will share some of the most recent updates, news, and developments shaping the future of eco-friendly travel.
This month's stories highlight how a new campaign is seeking to tackle the Premier League's carbon footprint, the sustainable travel platform helping to support sustainable travel solutions for destinations, venues, and live events in the UK and the transport hero promoting train and bus travel.
New overnight sleeper train service to Alps confirmed
Plans have been confirmed for a new winter seasonal night train to the Austrian Alps and Venice. The overnight journey by private international night train operator European Sleeper connects Belgium and Italy passing through the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
Twice weekly departures are planned between Brussels and Venice from February 5, 2025, including calls into ski gateways such as Munich, Innsbruck and Bolzano in northern Italy.
Find out more on the Travel Weekly website.
Copenhagen offers tourist rewards for sustainable actions
Tourists will be rewarded with free food and activities if they participate in environmentally friendly tasks while visiting Copenhagen, the city's tourist board has announced.
The trial scheme, which began on 15 July 2024, will see tourist attractions in the Danish capital offer rewards for activities such as litter-picking, travelling by public transport, using reusable coffee cups or biking around the city.
Find out more on the BBC website.
Sustainable travel platform secures £1.2 million funding
Midlands-based travel demand management platform ‘You. Smart. Thing.’ (YST) has secured £1.2 million in funding. The platform addresses sustainable travel solutions for destinations, venues, and live events in the UK, enabling them to generate personalised low-carbon travel plans via a travel assistant interface.
Empowering guests and venues to make greener decisions around event attendance will help address the UK live events industry’s ambitions to reach net zero by 2050. Venues which use YST have seen an average 30% decrease in CO2 emissions.
Find out more on the West Midlands Combined Authority website.
Travelling by sleeper train could be cheaper than flying
Taking a sleeper train could be more cost-effective than flying, according to new research by Which? Travel. Spot checks by the consumer champion discovered that a family of four could save nearly £100 travelling by sleeper train, while a bigger family could save more than £250.
The report said that flights might seem far cheaper until you factor in the cost of baggage and an extra night’s accommodation. In addition, Which?’s research also compared carbon emissions for each route and found that plane journeys emit up to seven times more CO2 per passenger.
Find out more on the Independent website.
Local ‘Transport Hero’ champions sustainable travel in Hull and the Humber
Alan Gouldthorpe recently received a Better Transport Hero award from the Campaign for Better Transport for his work promoting train and bus travel in the Hull and Humber region.
Alan actively encourages others to embrace sustainable transport by running a Facebook group – Barton-Upon-Humber Bus and Rail Connections – dedicated to public transport, answering queries and providing information, such as sharing accurate timetables and travel tips.
Find out more on the Hull CC News website.
TravelHorst consultancy launches sustainable business travel academy
Sustainable business travel consultancy TravelHorst has launched a training academy featuring 15 self-learning courses for professionals seeking to advance their knowledge of sustainable travel practices.
The training is centred around four core modules – people, planet, prosperity and performance – and is designed for travel managers, sustainability managers and suppliers that manage sustainability performance as part of their operations.
Find out more on the Business Travel News Europe website.
Premier League trophy to encourage coach and sustainable travel
Throughout the 2024/25 Premier League season, a new award - the Black Boot - will be awarded to teams for their 'outstanding contributions to football's carbon footprint', whenever an unnecessary flight is taken.
The award has been introduced after a study in 2023 found that Premier League clubs took 80% of their journeys by plane. The average journey time was 42 minutes, with the shortest flight just 27 minutes.
Black Boot is in partnership with Campaign for Better Transport and Fossil Free Football. Michael Solomon Williams from the transport charity said: “Changing the way we travel is one of the most effective things we can do the reduce carbon emissions. Football clubs should be leading the way and playing a bigger role in our fight against climate change".
Find out more on the Bus & Coach Buyer website.
Rail beats car for lower emissions on 94% of UK journeys
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% 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.
Find out more on the Business Travel News Europe website.
By Eveline Vouillemin ©
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