Great Western Coffee Shop

I am in total agreement with promoting the use of train rather than plane for domestic journeys.   However, advertising that skews a complex but good story to the extent that the figures quoted or misleading can do more harm that good in my view.   I picked this up from GWR's Facebook feed with reference to a Rail Delivery Group report.


Oh dear - the assumption that people want to go city centre to city centre is inaccurate, but convenient if producing a comparison that's shows a train as the best way.  And the provision of a table of taxi / minicab costs seems odd and potentially biasing.   If I were travelling - say - from Central London to the centre of Glasgow and flying the journey, I suspect I would never the less use local public transport out to Heathrow or Gatwick rather then hiring a [mini]cab.

Facebook thread at:
https://www.facebook.com/gwruk/posts/pfbid0fyT1hdKPRw8X6R6sGEXiTee8VgkFef1y53aXKfHXXUhJVu6mNLXeCQXzYaNinkyvl

Referenced report at:
https://www.raildeliverygroup.com/clearingtheair

Of course there is worse than the airline journey.

They lump all petrol/diesel cars together, but one of these Chelsea tractors (large SUV) with a single occupant would be more Carbon than  the commercial flight.

I dread to think what Rishi Sunak's helicopter would be!

Of course for commercial flights, trains and buses it depends on the loading you assume.

For trains it depends on the diesel/electric split.

And for all electric modes it depends on what you assume about the carbon in the grid!

As a reasonable approximation, it may be stated that air travel and driving produce ROUGHLY the same carbon emissions per Km travelled.
No great accuracy can be claimed as cars and aircraft vary a lot in fuel consumption and in load factor, but as an approximation it is so.

Driving is more convenient without reliance on flights that may not be available when you wish to travel. Driving is door to door.

Air travel is arguably less reliable, with frequent disruptions due to weather and strikes. Air travel is most unlikely to be door to door, but requires other transport at each end, this might be an electric train, but a diesel taxi is more likely.

Air is safer, despite the odd multi death disaster.

An electric car is much greener than an airliner. Electric planes do exist but seem unlikely to become viable for most flights.

Rail is almost certainly greenest but tends to be expensive and can be unreliable. For longer domestic journeys a sleeper train is a green choice, use of same may save a night in an hotel, saving both the cost thereof and also the energy used by the hotel.

Confusing or misleading messaging only raises doubt in the travellers mind, reduces the credibility of the messaging organisation, and gives ammunition to the climate change deniers.

Totally agreed!!

But how do you make the message clear [not confusing] in a very complex situation, and how do you avoid the messaging being misleading?   That's very much an issue I have had with some of the campaigning I have done over the years;  the solution I came up with was to present real data and examples but to chose ones that were not extreme and biased cases, so that if people started to look into them they would not be laughed at - for example I would not have added in / included a table of taxi fares from London's airports to the centre. 

The Facebook comments have not been kind to GWR's advert, picking on unreliability of the service as perhaps their top reason not to use rail; whilst they are correct in highlighting reliability as a problem, they do gloss over airline and road delays.  The rail industry's delay figures do not help their case - once again many stats feel biased.   I want to return from Portsmouth on the evening of 8th May - last train, 19:23 train, 21:31 in Melksham. I could book that - however, I know there's a near-certainty of it being removed from the timetable due to industrial action. So I can read the timetable, buy a ticket, and not have a train ... with it not showing up in the stats, nor the provider having any alternative arrangements.

I think there is an element of the old adage

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid

Working in the NHS I have long had an interest in Risk Communication, both written and verbal (recalls situations with head in hands going NO NO NO to oneself)

It is always difficult, but clarity and honesty are important.