It is surely the prospect of spending an entire day getting to a holiday destination rather than a few hours that has made flying the choice of travel for millions – to the clear detriment of the environment.
But a new scheme is being launched to encourage people to turn their backs on planes in favour of trains, for the sake of reducing their impact on climate change, by tackling that problem head on.
A growing number of firms have pledged to give their employees extra days off a year to go on holiday by train rather than flying there.
Already more than a dozen employers have signed up to the scheme, pledging to give their staff up to an extra four days off a year provided they use the time to get to reach their hotel, resort or AirBnb by less environmentally damaging means than air travel.
The scheme is coordinated by the Climate Perks organisation, which points out that a single return flight to Berlin clocks up the same amount of carbon as eight return trips by train.
Climate Perks states: “Most of the time, trains, coaches or boats take longer than a trip through the sky. Working for a Climate Perks employer means you can choose clean travel without losing out on your hard-earned leisure time.
“Each year you would be offered at least two paid ‘journey days’. These are for you to use to travel to and from your holiday destination without heading to the airport.”
The scheme is geared in particular to families taking their holidays in Europe, with its network of high speed rail links to various holiday destinations.
Emma Kemp, Campaign Manager at Possible, which launches Climate Perks next month, admits the scheme is designed to play on the Swedish notion of ‘flygskam’, or flight shame – the embarrassment increasing numbers of people now feel at admitting they are catching a plane.
“A lot of people live with low-lying guilt every time they fly and Climate Perks is premised on the idea that workplaces can nudge employees in a direction they already want to go.”
Among the 21 British companies who have already signed up is the Devon based insurance firm Naturesave, which has been offering extra days off to its 25 staff if they travel by train rather than plane for the past 10 years.
To date about a quarter of its staff have taken advantage of the up to four extra days holiday a year on offer.
Nick Oldridge, 49, Naturesave’s marketing manager, said: “I use it every year to to get to the south of France with my family. It’s much nicer and more relaxing than flying. My two children prefer it without question.
“Until now, people have been put off doing it by the time it takes to get to your destination, but if you get the extra time off then it’s not going to curtail your enjoyment.”
Mr Oldridge believes the campaigning work of the likes of Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough will see more and more holidaymakers turn to train travel over the coming years, and he predicts more employers will make extra days holiday available to them to do so.
“If you think that a flight from Bristol to Nice for a family of four saves four tons of CO2 it makes absolute sense for the sake of the climate to go by train,” he said.
Another UK firm signed up to Climate Perks’s scheme offering extra holidays to their employees is Wholegrain Digital, which develops websites for ethically-minded organisations. Others include Bristol Credit Union, Friends of the Earth, Farmdrop, Community Energy England and the Welsh energy firm DEG Cymru.
Foreign firms who have signed up include the Swedish train company MTR Express, German travel planning firm Fairway and Holland’s Better Places Travel.
Climate Perk’s says it hopes to recruit dozens more employers around the continent to the scheme, with the selling point of causing less damage to the environment while enjoying the calm of a long journey.
“Flying is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions globally. As more people look to take positive, practical action on climate change, Climate Perks offers an win-win option to do just that,” it said. “By empowering staff to make clean travel choices without losing out on rest and relaxation, Climate Perks employers show the world that they aren’t just ahead of the curve on clean travel, they’re bending it in the right direction.”
