Today, the Rail Industry has launched the We Mean Green campaign to encourage train travel, and for businesses to consider rail freight for deliveries.
On World Car Free Day, the class double arrow rail logo has been turned green to show the benefits of rail.
The Rail Delivery Group has said that on average, one passenger train takes 500 cars off the road and one freight train takes 76 lorries off the road.
In the run up to COP26, the UN climate summit, which is to held in Glasgow, passengers will see the BR logo go green as rail companies send out the message.
Posters will be displayed at stations, on trains, and on digital boards.
Andy Bagnall, Director General at the Rail Delivery Group, said: “Train travel is more than a journey. By choosing to travel or transport goods by rail, people and businesses are on track to cut their carbon footprint so that together we achieve the net zero target. While rail accounts for 10% of journeys, it is responsible for just 1% of transport emissions. We want to work with government to reform the rail industry including making fares much simpler so that trains are the more attractive option to driving or flying.”
Jenny Bates, transport campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Whether it's personal travel or moving freight around, rail is preferable to flying or driving. Particularly with personal travel taking the train needs to be cheaper, or as cheap, as domestic or short haul flights. This means carbon-guzzling air travel needs to be taxed properly – and the cost of travelling by rail versus the cost of motoring also needs to be redressed. This would go a long way to address the disincentives people currently face travelling by rail and other public transport. This is in the public interest because it benefits people as well as the environment through reduced climate emissions and air pollution.”
Rebecca Cole, Director at Studio Blackburn, the design studio behind the green logo, said: “The campaign line conveys the fact that rail travel is genuinely the greener way to travel. Instead of simply paying lip service to the green agenda – the rail industry can credibly claim ‘We Mean Green'. The iconic double arrow logo designed in 1965 by Gerry Barney was at that time commissioned to breathe new life into railway industry. Its use today as the centrepiece of this campaign – depicted in a variety of green shades – signifies the importance of a modal shift to greener travel.”
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The designer of the original logo summed it up nicely…
I actually quite like that. It means that more people should use trains more than driving to cut down on co2 emissions and to reduce pollution because of climate change.