Travelling by rail is up to 13 times greener than flying in the UK, according to the latest and most accurate emissions data from the Rail Delivery Group.

When compared with travelling by diesel or petrol car, taking the train is nine times more sustainable, on average, across Britain’s top 100 business travel routes. Travelling by rail is also up to four times greener than using a plug-in hybrid electric car and uses up to two-and-a-half times less carbon than a battery electric car. 

These comparisons are available thanks to Green Travel Data, an initiative that’s now providing the business travel sector with detailed, accurate and reliable data on the carbon emissions of journeys by rail.

Led by the Rail Delivery Group, Thrust Carbon, Fabrik, Black Box Partnerships and other industry partners, the initiative (formerly known as the Green Travel Pledge) is providing granular, transparent carbon emissions data to give the industry a credible benchmark for carbon calculations for rail versus road and air.

Organisations across the UK are now using these emissions insights to shape travel policies, achieve ESG goals and support Net Zero ambitions. Green Travel Data is helping corporates meet CSRD reporting standards and drive real change in their operations.

Nicole Jennings, Chief Delivery Officer at Rail Delivery Group, said: “Rail is the greenest way to travel in Britain, and Green Travel Data gives businesses the accurate, transparent insight they need to make informed choices.

“With journeys like London to Edinburgh up to 13 times greener by train than by plane, this is a real opportunity to cut carbon and support the UK’s Net Zero goals.”

Easy access

Green Travel Data carbon emission data is available via the Rail Data Marketplace (RDM), a central platform for finding and sharing rail data. It means the data can be shared easily and via a number of different formats with online booking tools and train operators.

The aim of the platform is to remove barriers to data sharing and open up access to high quality rail industry data for public and private bodies, which supports growth in rail and encourages more sustainable booking decisions.

A carbon calculator can be embedded on external websites giving emission comparisons with air on routes with scheduled domestic flights.

It is already integrated into the RDG and National Rail websites, and in the next phase RDG will be engaging with train operators to integrate it in their websites.

An open API/data feed is being developed to allow travel management companies (TMCs), online booking tools and other business travel providers to consume the carbon emissions data and make it available to business travellers at the point of sale. RDG expects this to be available later in 2025. Trainline, Evolvi and SilverRail are also planning to integrate the data.

All of this will enable business travellers to make more informed decisions through easy access to the sustainability credentials of their chosen journey.

Accurate data

Both businesses and their travellers can more accurately measure the emissions of their rail travel to track their progress against net zero goals.

While the traditionally-used ‘Defra methodology’ calculates a single emission factor for the average passenger per kilometre, the Green Travel Data is considerably more detailed.

As well as distance, it is also based on a number of other factors including class of travel, the number of carriages, the space taken up by the seats of first class compared to standard class, load factors, timetables, whether the train is electric or diesel and the energy usage for different train fleets.

Facts and figures

Switching from air to rail is one of the most effective ways to reduce a traveller’s carbon footprint and limit their impact on the environment.

RDG has compared its rail data with the equivalent per passenger emission data for the same trip by plane using Department for Net Zero figures on emissions for domestic air travel. The results show a stark difference.  

In 2019, 3.4 million people travelled between London and Edinburgh by air, making it the second busiest air corridor in Europe producing 244,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

According to the new data, London to Edinburgh by train is 13 imes greener than by plane, London to Newcastle 12 times, London to Manchester 11 times and London to Glasgow is 11 times.

But it’s not just the environmental cost that’s lower. According to comparisons of return fares on trips booked seven weeks in advance (departing on 27 May 2024 and returning on 31 May 2024), rail was found to be the cheaper option on six popular routes, when accounting for the additional cost of baggage and seat allocations on flights, as well as minicab airport transfers to the city centre. 

And travelling by rail is considerably more productive too, allowing travellers to stay connected, work or ‘just be’ in order to arrive feeling rested and refreshed.

Future developments

The carbon emissions data will gradually become even more detailed because RDG is continually looking at how to further widen the scope of the data.

Planned future developments include incorporating real time variations to the timetable, rolling stock and passenger numbers, providing results for indirect journeys, and taking into consideration the first and last mile of the journey, perhaps by car, taxi or bicycle.

There will be regular updates to the data every six months in line with timetable changes and RDG is also looking to ensure that Green Travel Data is externally verified in the near future.

User’s guide

It’s easy to access the data. In addition to RDG’s online carbon calculator, the latest full dataset is available on the Rail Data Marketplace (RDM).

See this guide for instructions on how to access RDG’s Green Travel Data, and once you’re using the data, download the logo here.

To embed the carbon calculator on your website, follow these instructions.