Go Greener. Go Cheaper.

Today my friend Lizzie who's at Liverpool University is coming to visit me in Oxford. She's coming on THE TRAIN. Trains are amazing. The same journey from Liverpool to Oxford will emit so much less carbon if its made on a train rather than on a plane or in a car.

Virgin trains (http://www.virgintrains.co.uk) have recently launched an ad campaign with the slogan "Go Greener. Go Cheaper." Their trains emit 76% less CO2 than cars or short haul flights. A journey from Glasgow to London on a Virgin train will result in 17.6 kg of CO2 emissions. The same journey made in a car will result in 73.6 (!) kg of CO2 emissions. Going from Glasgow to London on a plane will spew out a whopping 83.1 kg of CO2 emissions.

Here are some reasons to love trains.
1. Your carbon footprint diminishes by the size of half of England every time you go on a train instead of a plane or in a car.
2. You get to sit for a couple of hours and be driven to your destination. You can chill for a while. When you're in a car you're a bit busy driving to be getting on with your dissertation or reading the paper, and when you're on a plane you're a bit busy feeling airsick and sick with the knowledge of your excessive carbon emissions to concentrate on listening to the new Travis album.
3. Its well cheap. Book 24 hours+ in advance (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk) and its often half the price. Loads of students have Young Person's Railcards and these get you 1/3rd off ticket prices.
4. If you're going offpeak you can often take your bike on the train with you. So once you arrive you can cycle to wherever you're going instead of having to pay for a taxi!

Go Greener. Go Cheaper. Get the train.