WEDNESDAY BRIEFING

Rail industry goes green to mark car free day

The rail industry is launching a new campaign – We mean green – to mark World Car Free Day. The aim is to encourage more people and businesses to choose greener trains rather than congested roads. In a report published earlier this month, the Rail Delivery Group estimated that a 20 per cent shift from rail to road would cause an extra one million tonnes of CO2 emissions and 300 million hours stuck in traffic jams a year. With only weeks to go until COP26, the UN climate summit in Glasgow, which starts on 1 November, people will see the former British Rail double arrow logo, which is to be the official symbol of railways under Great British Railways, going green as rail companies emphasise how getting people and goods on to trains and off roads will help in the fight against climate change. 

Posters will be displayed at stations, on board trains and on digital channels. Thousands of delegates are expected to arrive at the event by train and while in Glasgow they will have the opportunity to take a trip on zero emissions hydrogen and battery trains which are being exhibited at the event. Before the climate summit community groups will also be staging a series of events between 18 and 24 October, encouraging people to try the train as part of ‘green travel week’, which is being organised by the Community Rail Network.