Commenting on today's Government announcement revealing the proposed route for the new high-speed rail link, Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner, Richard Dyer said:

"We urgently need investment in faster, better rail travel - but current high- speed rail plans will do little to cut climate-changing emissions or entice people out of planes and cars.

"The Government's priority should be to upgrade our existing overcrowded rail network - so ordinary travellers can benefit from better commuter and longer- distance services.

"More must also be done to encourage greener motoring and boost cycling and walking for short distances - which is better for our health and the environment.

"High-speed rail could play a part in a low-carbon transport network, but only if it is powered from renewable sources and backed by action to make rail travel cheaper and more attractive than flying or driving.

"UK transport policy has been stuck in the wrong lane for far too long - it's time to steer it in a new and greener direction."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. A Friends of the Earth briefing on HSR is available.

2. Friends of the Earth says that, if built, the new line must not go through protected sites like Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs - the UK's highest wildlife designation) and impacts on the landscape must be avoided where possible or else minimised.

3. HSR facts and figures

• Modelling published with Labour's High Speed Rail proposal in March 2010 showed the line will be broadly carbon neutral (-0.4Mt to +0.4Mt CO2) [HS2 Command paper. March 2010]

• 84 per cent of passengers on HS2 will be taking new journeys or transferring from existing rail services; only 16% will be people who would have otherwise travelled by air or car [HS2 Command Paper. March 2010]

• Nearly half of all passengers arriving in London in the morning peak in 2008 were on trains that were full or overcrowded [National Audit Office "Increasing Rail Capacity"]

• Network Rail predicts that there will be a 30 per cent increase in the numbers of commuters using National Rail services into the capital during the weekday morning peaks up to 2031. [Network Rail South East Route Utilisation Strategy. Dec 2010]

• More than a half of all car journeys (21 per cent of all car emissions) are less than five miles. Many could be shifted to walking, cycling or public transport.

• 90 per cent of car emissions are from journeys of less than 100 miles.

• 93 per cent of car journeys (64 per cent of car emissions) are less than 25 miles.

• 1.6 per cent of UK transport emissions are from domestic flights [DECC - all stats from "Low Carbon Transport - A greener Future" DfT 2009]

• A national programme of measures to encourage greener alternatives for single occupancy car journeys 'Smarter Travel Choices' is estimated to save 2.9Mt CO2 per year, at least 6 times as much as HS2. ["Meeting Carbon Budgets" Committee on Climate Change. October 2009]

• Between 1980 and 2009 the overall cost of motoring has fallen by 17 per cent while bus and coach fares have risen by 54 per cent and rail fares have risen by 50 per cent. The average UK air fare (including taxes) fell by 35 per cent between 1997 and 2008 [PQ to Transport Minister. February 2010]

• Some of the UK's biggest conurbations still do not have tram, trolley bus or underground rail, i.e Leeds and Bristol. Following the recent CSR, funding for the Leeds trolley bus scheme (a cheaper alternative to a previously proposed tram system) is under threat.