Home > Press releases > 2007 > Friends of the Earth director names first Eurostar train to leave St Pancras
Home > Press releases > 2007 > Friends of the Earth director names first Eurostar train to leave St Pancras
Nov 14 2007
Friends of the Earth executive director Tony Juniper joined Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown in naming the first Paris-bound train - Tread Lightly - to leave the newly re-opened St Pancras International station this morning. Friends of the Earth hailed the new high-speed service as a "landmark day for green travel."
Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said:
"Today is a landmark day for green travel and the first step towards making short-haul flights a thing of the past. Eurostar shows that short-haul rail travel is not only better for the environment than flying, but that it can also be quicker, easier and more comfortable as well.
"The Government should now do all it can to encourage people to switch from planes to trains for the short distances between Europe's great cities. It must include emissions from aircraft in its proposed climate change law. We need a revolution in the way we travel in order to tackle climate change, and rail is the way forward."
Last month Friends of the Earth and Eurostar launched a partnership [1] which called on the Government to strengthen its proposals for a new climate change law [2], and to do more to support low-carbon travel solutions, such as switching from planes to greener trains.
Friends of the Earth has led the campaign for a new climate change law through The Big Ask campaign (www.thebigask.com). Although the Government has agreed to introduce a new climate law, Friends of the Earth and others say that it must be strengthened to make it really effective. This should include:
Friends of the Earth partners with Eurostar
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
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