Green Travel Data

Carbon Emissions Calculator

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Sustainability

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  Rail Delivery Group wants businesses to make greener travel choices with new carbon emission data now available

  The latest phase of Green Travel Pledge data shows that carbon emissions are lower on 93.8% of over 80,000 rail business journeys compared to travelling by petrol and diesel car.  

  Read more

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  Rail Industry agrees new framework to meet sustainability challenges

  The RSSB has launched the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, a new framework to support the rail industry in Great Britain make efficient progress on environmental and social sustainability challenges.

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  Chiltern Railways on track for a greener future with vegetable oil powered trains

  Train operator Chiltern Railways has launched vegetable oil powered trains on its network – the first instance of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) being used in passenger service in the UK.  

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  87% reduction in environmental impact of producing rail tickets

  Paragon ID has reduced by 87% the environmental impact of the process that it uses to produce rail tickets.

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  South Western Railway’s “ambitious” net zero targets approved by leading global climate body

  A leading global climate body has approved South Western Railway's (SWR) “ambitious” targets to become a net zero carbon train operator.

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  Sustainable Travel Education Toolkit launched

  CrossCountry and Community Rail Education Network have launched the UK’s first Sustainable Travel Educational Toolkit.

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  TransPennine Express first rail operator to be declared Carbon Literate

  TransPennine Express (TPE) has proven going green can be rewarding after being formally recognised as Carbon Literate.

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  GTR announces three new community energy generation schemes with Energy Garden

  Train operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has agreed contracts with community climate action group Energy Garden to install solar panels at three of its main depots.

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  TPE on track to a greener future by welcoming its inaugural sustainability apprentice onboard

  TransPennine Express (TPE), which operates trains and stations across the North of England and into Scotland, has welcomed its first ever apprentice into the sustainability team.

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We put customers at the heart of everything we do

What we do

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We partner with Britain’s train operators to put customers at the heart of everything we do, delivering essential services and dedicated experts who keep the nation’s railway running efficiently.

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Latest activity

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  Green Travel Pledge

  Sustainability
  Provisional Green Travel Pledge carbon data shows that you can substantially decrease emissions if you switch from car to train for business travel across Britain.

  Provisional Green Travel Pledge carbon data shows that you can substantially decrease emissions if you switch from car to train for business travel across Britain. Across the Top 100 business routes rail travel is almost nine times greener than by car.

  Read the Green Travel Pledge

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  Smarter Information Smarter Journeys

  Industry
  The Smarter Information, Smarter Journeys (SISJ) programme is the industry catalyst for delivering better and simpler customer information.

  The Smarter Information, Smarter Journeys (SISJ) programme is the industry catalyst for delivering better and simpler customer information to our people and our customers on Great Britain's Railways. The aim is to provide customers with all the information they want, when and how they want it.

  Read about Smarter Information Smarter Journeys

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  Committed to improving the UK’s trains

  Customer
  Over the last decade, more than half of all passenger trains have been replaced or refurbished to make journeys more accessible, reliable and comfortable.

  Over the last decade, more than half of all passenger trains have been replaced or refurbished to make journeys more accessible, reliable and comfortable. That’s equivalent to 132-miles placed back-to-back, further than Newcastle to Sheffield, Cardiff to Coventry or 2,300 football pitches.

  Read our commitment

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  World Cup of Stations

  Customer
  Welcome to our annual World Cup of Stations Competition where 48 shortlisted stations battle it out head-to-head in a public vote.

  Welcome to our annual World Cup of Stations Competition where 48 shortlisted stations battle it out head-to-head in a public vote. In this year’s World Cup of Stations we are celebrating the incredible local businesses on the doorstep of our wonderful stations, connecting our communities.

  Vote opening soon

Media centre

View all news

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  Immersive VR film at Liverpool Lime Street station invites passengers to find out how they can help to tackle sexual harassment on the railway

  28 Feb 2025
  Immersive VR film helps tackle sexual harassment on the railway...

  Immersive VR film at Liverpool Lime Street station invites passengers to find out how they can help to tackle sexual harassment on the railway

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  Biggest ever rail passenger satisfaction survey launches nationwide

  21 Jul 2025
  Biggest ever rail passenger satisfaction survey launches nationwide

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  Next stop: May half-term – train travel delivers over a £430m boost to local economies

  24 May 2025
  Train travel delivers over a £430m boost to local economies

  Next stop: May half-term – train travel delivers over a £430m boost to local economies

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  85% say Rail has role in tackling Violence against women and Girls: Industry sets out Safety Commitments

  29 Apr 2025
  85% say Rail has role in tackling Violence against women and girls...

  85% say Rail has role in tackling Violence against women and Girls: Industry sets out Safety Commitments

• 

  See all news

  Find more news and resources on our Media Centre portal...

  See all news

Andy Bagnall spoke at the National Rail Recovery Conference on Wednesday 4 May. A summary of his appearance can be found below:

Participants

• Andy Bagnall, Director General, Rail Delivery Group (RDG)
• Tan Dhesi MP, Shadow Rail Minister
• Martin Tugwell, Chief Executive, Transport for the North
• Rufus Boyd, Programme Director Passenger and Freight
• Event Chair: Nigel Harris, RAIL and Paul Clifton, Transport Correspondent, BBC

Key points:

Andy Bagnall, RDG: In response to questioning on whether he thought the railway was fundamentally “broken” Andy disagreed and responded by saying that although the industry has significant challenges, the “profound moment of change” we are in will ultimately result positive outcomes for the railway. He went on to say that despite rail needed reform, we mustn’t forget some of the good things that have been delivered over recent years – for example, franchising which delivered some of the growth and improvements which the industry will need to see again. On the private sector, Andy stated that it needs to be given the right freedoms to what it does best, citing the example of the doubling of passenger numbers over the last 25 years. On GBR, Andy stressed that getting the culture right would be crucial to making it a success, while ensuring that it did not become overcentralised to the point that we lose the creativity of what delivered the private sector improvements in the past. When asked about industry cost pressures, Andy emphasised the importance of “running the ruler” over everything we do going forward, in what is an enormous issue for the sector.

Tan Dhesi MP: On industry cost cutting, Tan stressed that it is important that the industry doesn’t “cut” its way out of the pandemic and rather, it needed to “grow” out of it. This, he said, would be crucial to maintaining passengers – who may be put off rail due to reduced services – and avoiding a car-led recovery. When asked about fares, Tan applauded the current efforts to revolutionise the system, however, he said that we needed to ensure fares remained sustainable, citing the recent reduction of fares in New Zealand as an example of how we could make further improvements. During the session, Tan also expressed concerns of the lack of integration across the country and said this is another  example of where we can make improvements across the industry.

Martin Tugwell, Transport for the North: When questioned on the country levelling up, Martin stated that rail would be central to this as it would heavily rely on the movement of both people and goods. As such, he said we would need to plan for an 80% increase in rail to deliver future improvements to the economy, environment and social equity. On freight, Martin said that the market is still changing post-pandemic and that with 25% of freight beginning in the North, we need to make “tough decisions” to figure how we get the best out of the system. Working with local leaders, he said, would be crucial to this becoming a reality.

Rufus Boyd, GBRTT: Rufus stated that, with country now being very much post-pandemic, it was important that the industry stop using pre-Covid figure as a baseline for all of our future work, as this mindset would “hold us back” from embracing the true realities of the situation. He said the market has now changed significantly, especially commuter and business markets and that it was important that we start focussing on the figures of today. On the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, Rufus said that this is a huge opportunity to rebuild a new and improved network.