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Title: Environment Agency bans staff from taking flights in England Post by: Chris from Nailsea on June 07, 2010, 22:23:12 From the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7807033/Environment-Agency-bans-staff-from-taking-flights-in-England.html):
Quote The Environment Agency is the first Government quango to ban flights to destinations that can easily be reached by train. Staff at the watchdog, that is in charge of protecting the UK's environment, are not allowed to fly anywhere in England and Wales. Flights to Paris and Brussels that are a few hours away by train are also banned and journeys to most destinations in Continental Europe will be taken by train. However staff will be allowed to travel to Edinburgh and Glasgow by plane in exceptional circumstances because the rail service is still a slow and expensive option. The organisation has already reduced business car mileage by 24 per cent (11 million miles) over the last four years and is expected to save approximately 30 tonnes of carbon a year through its new policy. Dr Paul Leinster, Environment Agency Chief Executive, said staff will only travel when necessary. "We aim to lead the way on environmental performance. Our restriction on domestic air travel builds on previous and continuing action on business mileage, energy use, waste to landfill and renewable energy generation. It's another important step in reducing our carbon emissions," he said. ^Reducing energy use, carbon emissions and waste can all help to reduce operating costs and environmental impacts.^ The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has been criticised for allowing staff to take more than 1,000 domestic flights, including 26 return flights to Manchester that can be reached in two-and-a-half hours by train. Environmental groups welcomed the actions of the Environment Agency and said other Government agencies must now implement a similar policy. Title: Re: Environment Agency bans staff from taking flights in England Post by: John R on June 07, 2010, 23:16:37 Excellent news. Very sensible. And of course they will be travelling standard class too, so more examples of civil servants seeing first hand how crowded peak services are. ;D
Title: Re: Environment Agency bans staff from taking flights in England Post by: inspector_blakey on June 08, 2010, 00:19:52 Not sure if it's justified to call rail services from London to Scotland expensive and slow compared to rail. Fair enough walk-on rail fares are very pricey for those trips, but I shudder to think what an airfare booked at the airport would set you back, so it's not really comparing apples with apples.
Title: Re: Environment Agency bans staff from taking flights in England Post by: JayMac on June 08, 2010, 00:34:29 Not sure if it's justified to call rail services from London to Scotland expensive and slow compared to rail. Perfect example of 'apples and apples' ;) ;D This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |