Eurostar has announced its intention to run all trains on renewable energy only by 2030. The target was set in the rail company’s first sustainability report, released on 1 May 2024.
A deliberately ambitious target
Travelling by rail instead of air is already a massive carbon emissions saver, slashing a passenger’s footprint between Paris and London by as much as 96%, from 66 kg of CO2 to 2.4 kg. What’s more, Eurostar trains in the Netherlands have been operating entirely on wind power since 2017 and in the UK, where solar is being brought to complement existing wind power infrastructure, the company’s trains will be 80% run on renewables by 2025.
But, with the transport sector responsible for 25% of greenhouse emissions now Eurostar wants to go further, setting what CEO Gwendoline Cazenave says is a “deliberately ambitious target” to drive transformation across the industry (and, presumably, to provide another reason to speak to the green consumer) and connect with other transport services.
The company, which says it wants to “build the backbone of sustainable European travel”, aims to increase passenger numbers by 61% to carry 30 million per year by 2030, compared with 18.6 million in 2023.
What’s the plan?
Eurostar’s strategy includes joining the RE100 alliance, a global corporate network of 400 companies focused on green energy solutions, which, Cazenave boasts, is the first train company to do. The operator is also prioritising circular economy and energy efficiency principles.
This includes what may seem like small changes, such as increasing the more sustainable vegetarian and vegan food options in its catering service, partnering with food redistribution charities, and changing in-train meal packaging, including 1.5 million plastic cups being swapped out for plant-based, compostable alternatives. An upgrade to SMART lighting meant changing 605 depot bulbs, according to the company’s press pages. Fairtrade chocolate is on-sale on board, they say.
But more fundamentally, the operator is also applying high tech solutions to journey efficiency, with a new Driver Advisory System being rolled out after a trial in 2023 that showed potential savings of 5%. It assists drivers in real-time with making energy efficient driving choices. This goes together with the introduction to the majority of the Eurostar fleet of an Energy Measurement System (EMS) to “better track energy use and the impact of different efficiency actions,” according to the company’s press release.
