Stay on Track to Help the Environment While Holidaying in Europe This Summer

Stay on Track to Help the Environment While Holidaying in Europe This Summer

June 26, 2007

- Trains Trump Planes and Cars as "Green" Travel
Option

    UTRECHT, the Netherlands, June 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/
-- Last year people took more than two billion journeys on
scheduled airlines worldwide, up four percent over 2005,
according to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
IATA, the International Air Transport Association, predicts
another 500 million passengers will take to the skies by
2010. With jet aircraft emitting 23 kilograms of CO2 per
100 passenger kilometres, that's a lot of carbon dioxide
being dumped into the atmosphere.  Cars do somewhat better
at a little less than 18 kilograms, but trains outdo them
both at under five kilograms of CO2 per 100 passenger
kilometres. (1)

    Carbon dioxide emissions from cars and planes play a
huge role in air pollution and global warming. Indeed, a
report from the US General Accounting Office earlier this
year affirmed their contribution to climate change and
warned that emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse
gases will increase as commercial jet travel continues to
grow worldwide. While people can't be expected to stop
flying, they can still make wise decisions to help reduce
their carbon footprint during holiday travel. In Europe,
taking the train instead of renting a car or jetting around
on low cost airlines is a sure-fire way to lessen the
environmental impact of travel. Mr. Ian Byrne, Deputy
Director of the National Energy Foundation, based in the
UK, agrees.

    "If you're concerned about contributing to global
climate change," advises Mr. Byrne, "remember
that rail is always a better option than flying. The carbon
dioxide emissions from a return economy flight from Paris to
Berlin, for example, would allow a rail user to go from
Paris to Berlin, then on to Vienna, Venice, Rome and back
to Paris - with enough left over for two return trips from
Paris to Amsterdam - so you could take a friend!"

    The Eurail network that covers most of Europe with its
wide range of flexible and affordable rail passes makes it
easy to travel "green."

    The average Eurail Global Pass Passenger, for example,
travels more than 6,500 kilometres while using the pass.
Trains covering that distance emit 0.3 tons of CO2, while
cars and planes put out more than a ton of CO2. Travellers
can calculate their personal emissions using the carbon
calculators on the CarbonNeutral.Com website.

    Aside from the environmental benefits, taking the train
can make the journey as enjoyable as the destination.
Europe's fast, sleek trains go efficiently from city centre
to city centre with a minimal use of land compared to most
motorway systems. Since there is little urban sprawl,
passengers enjoy a window seat on passing views of fairy
tale castles, forested hillsides, sleepy villages and
bustling towns. What's more, trains rarely encounter
mechanical or weather delays, and none of the frequent
congestion that can not only stall traffic in the air and
on the ground, but also further waste fuel and increase
greenhouse gases. It just makes sense to take the train
whenever possible.

    Eurail offers a range of flexible and affordable rail
passes. The classic Eurail Global Pass covers 18 countries
and gives travellers the freedom to travel as far as they
want, when they want, as long as they want.

    For those wanting to visit a handful of countries, the
Eurail Select Pass can be tailor-made to allow travel in
any combination of 3, 4 or 5 countries, provided they are
linked by rail or shipping line. In response to the growing
trend for shorter vacations to fewer countries, Eurail has
introduced Eurail Regional Passes, valid in two bordering
European countries and Eurail National Passes, allowing the
in-depth discovery of a single country by rail.

    In 2007, Eurail introduced some exciting new
destinations to the National Pass range including Italy,
Portugal and the Republic of Ireland.

    The EURAIL Group comprises 27 railways and shipping
lines, as well as several bonus partners. For more
information about Eurail see http://www.EurailGroup.com .
To purchase, go to www.Eurail.com or one of Eurail's
authorized sales agents worldwide: ACP Rail International
(eurail-acprail.com); Flight Centre (flightcentre.com);
OctopusTravel.com and Rail Europe 4A
(raileurope.fr/wheretobuy).

    Editor's Notes:

    Eurail Countries: Countries participating in the Eurail
Pass offer are:
    Austria (including Liechtenstein), Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Czech
    Republic, Denmark, Finland, France (including Monaco),
Germany, Greece,
    Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
    Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Serbia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden 
    and Switzerland. Note: participating countries vary per
pass type.

    Images: High-resolution photographs of European trains
may be downloaded from Eurail's media library at
http://eurail.informationstore.net/

    Technical note: The example given by the National
Energy Foundation is based on return CO2 emissions to
Berlin estimated at 0.38 tons, before any radiative forcing
effect (which some authorities believe means that the
equivalent at ground level would be almost 3 times as
much). The rail trip is based on typical electric
high-speed trains, without taking into account the very low
CO2 emissions associated with the nuclear industry in
France.

    (1)"Railways and the Environment," by the
Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies
and the International Union of Railways, 2004,
http://www.cer.be .





    For more information, please contact:

     Mrs Ana Dias e Seixas, Marketing Manager, 
     Eurail Group G.I.E., 
     Tel:   [phone], 
     Email: [e-mail]