EU environmental agency gives top marks to train travel
Stockholm, Mar. 24 (BNA): Train travel is a more environmentally friendly mode of travel in terms of greenhouse gas emissions compared to air and road travel, the EU's environmental agency said on Wednesday.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) said it had assessed different travel modes as part of efforts to provide information on how the bloc can implement the European Green Deal, which includes a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 90 per cent by 2050 compared with 1990, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.
Transport accounted for one quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. Road transport accounted for 72 per cent of emissions, while marine transport's share was 14 per cent and aviation's was 13.
Railways accounted for less than 1 per cent of emissions - mainly from diesel-powered trains, according to the EEA.
The assessment concluded that rail travel was "the best and most sensible mode of travel, apart from walking or cycling," the Copenhagen-based agency said. The report also noted that cars were "the dominant mode of passenger transport in Europe."
The assessment used a comparison of travel between 20 pairs of cities across Europe, covering a distance of 500 kilometres.
Although the total emission costs of rail were lower than those of air travel, noise costs were comparable or in some cases higher, since air travel noise is mainly generated at take-off and landing.
Integrating air and rail travel, and reducing barriers for cross-border rail travel were among proposals mentioned, as well as the need to plan for improving and upgrading existing rail lines and trains.
