Karin waited at Goteborg train station deep in thought over the current publication of European Geographical Studies. She was trying to concentrate but a vein on her temple throbbed with fury. Not after a row with hubby Jan for overdone veal. Not even little Oliver’s poor grade in mathematics bothered her much. It was aimed at those dopes traveling by air. Could people be so irresponsible to environment!
Every flight leaves behind a trail of filth gently settling down over the city. Each whit of carbon finds a way into lungs making pulmonary disorders a Swedish household malady. People should be traveling by train for a reason and it is strong enough to offset their craving for air travel. In fact, brief flights are more injurious to environment than the long haul ones. Emission of 250 gm of Co2 for every passenger-kilometer should book everyone on board to the crime of homicide. It is utter neglect of the surrounding air, shutting your senses to burning environmental issues where distances below 500 kilometers could easily be done by train.
Boarding the green rail
Hi-tech Swedish trains are a green and pollution free option to travel and could reach you faster.
For a comparison, long haul flights looked less damaging. They spewed gas, estimates kind of averaged out at 110 per passenger -kilometer. It is an offense against humanity,after all, length of flight is only an excuse.
Night train to Ljungby arrived in stilly mode shortly as smooth as a knife through butter. Europe is way too fast and modern in infrastructure. Technological strides have been very big and acoustics have been brilliant, you can hear a pin drop. Karin collected her luggage, buttoned up her fur coat at the collar and boarded her steps had a clear sense of purpose. At least she had done her bit, changing traveling habits of those airborne morons isn’t her business.
Train bragging, the growing travel trend
Green travel is spreading fast. ‘Tagskryt ‘ also known as train bragging is the new rage in Europe. Who would bother to fly and pollute the environment with carbon emissions when an alternate means exist? Train bragging is a national pride among Swedish commuters as much as their aversion linked to ‘Flygskam’ or flight shame is quite strong.
Trains run on electricity with almost no carbon footprints. Besides they are far cheaper modes of travel less painful on your wallet. The most powerful debate in favor of train travel is its ability to deliver access to natural panorama.
Ample scope of exploring landscape and nature in its raw form exists in train journeys. A definite form of wellness travel is guaranteed in train travel as against the long formal waiting time at airport terminals contributing to stress. Lengthy customs checking, jetlags and soaring prices of air tickets may be going against air travel.
Damage to air quality is the Achilles heels of airlines. Flight shaming arising out of environmental concerns may soon force fleets of aircraft to stay grounded. Unless environmental issues are resolved by use of eco-friendly bio-fuels, the planes would find it hard to get an air-connection.
Rolling the wheels of train bragging
Sustainable travel trends of 2020 would certainly see more people opting for train travel instead of flying. Do we see a similar situation outside Europe? We will investigate this area later.
It all started in Sweden when a 16 year old student Greta Thunberg went up in arms against air travel. She is one of the most vocal climate activists practicing her convictions instead of preaching dos and don’ts.
Personal involvement is far effective when influencing mass opinion.
Her target of raising consciousness about the impact of air travel on climate was achieved in a two week trip around Europe most of it by train. Later she did a solar-powered yacht trip to the US and Chile from Plymouth, England on a climate seminar. The flight shame movement in Sweden is fast gaining ground ever since Thunberg stepped into the scene.
Relationship between frequent flights and the falling quality of atmosphere wasn’t a new find. It was there with voices of protest coming up from different quarters. However, it lacked in force and thoroughness until the little girl Thunberg took up the challenge. Fighting the demon of global warming is already a stressful project, now pollutants released by flights have taken a new bend aggravating the issue.
Sensing alarm for the flying industry?
Studies reveal there would be a drop in growth of the US air travel from 2.1 % to 1.3 % which is alarming for the aircraft production industry. Order booking numbers for both Airbus and its competitor Boeing would slump by 110 every year. These companies would take the hit of falling revenues as predicted by the bankers to the tune of € 2.8 billion annually. Flight shaming movement would be a clear threat to Airbus’ reputation that has controlled a market segment of 57 %.
Is Train bragging catching up beyond Europe?
Responsible travel is the watchword as if saying goodbye to planes would add a fresh lease of life to planet earth. Flight aversion is not a growing cult in Sweden alone climate consciousness it is spreading fast to neighboring nations too. Studies by the Union Bank of Switzerland reveal a sharp downward trend in flying habits and instead, train trips are endorsed.
A sample survey of 6000 folks across Germany, France, UK and US interviewed, disclose a 21% drop in air travel records over last year. Just 16 % of British interviewees admitted they weren’t flying any longer but 24% of Americans still couldn’t shake off flight addiction. A big blow is coming up for aircraft makers as UBS has announced its fears about future of air travel. Airtravel across the European Union would register a growth of 1.5% only annually against a forecast of 3%. Flight shaming movement looks like it’s going to put the airlines business to doom anytime soon.
Sustainable travel is a prime target in travel plans bringing green travel in focus. Among people moving from London to Scotland, train bragging is clearly visible. Commuters look keen on washing away carbon footprints as well as onus together opting out of air trips.
If flight shaming has started digging the grave, train bragging has ceremoniously been hammering in the nails into the coffin where the prospect of airline industry lie.
Ditching the sky
The source of the phrase ‘flight shame’ is traced to Swedish singer Staffan Lindberg’s decision to stop traveling on plane. The vision of damage to climate has shaken him up pretty much. Carbon emissions from flying planes are equated with smoking. It is as offensive a habit if not more. The latter is confined to personal health hazard which is a matter of choice though not advised for sure. But the former is far more universal and is encroaching into a domain that you have no right to harm.
Across the globe the trend of cutting down on air travel has gone conspicuous. Environmental awareness is transmitting fast, perhaps faster than the planes themselves. In Europe, 21 % flyers admitted that they won’t go up again in air in future trying to put an end to their contribution to air-pollution. For a contrast, there is every reason for train riders to celebrate their carbon neutral travel choices. They are cleaner, greener and as quick for short distances. Train bragging would rule the future of travel it seems.
So we have a glimpse of future world where airplanes are banished to hangers. They stand idle with folded wings awaiting an inglorious fate for onward demolition and sale of parts for alternate consumption as scrap. People will cut down on flights to meetings; they would take the train instead. They may opt for videoconferencing altogether instead of flying to a meeting for the sake of a greener environment. I am afraid this sustainable travel would come at a price and travel time will be the first casualty.
Flight shaming – Not always the right path
Now are we talking about all kinds of air travel including vacation trips and serious urgent hauls which if missed may end in loss? Climate poisoning simply doesn’t analyze if it is caused by flying holiday makers or by patients being carried by air -ambulance to specialty clinics. So whatever fractional gain in environmental health achieved by saying no to planes could be annulled by lengthy train journeys failing passengers in their commitments.
Emergencies for medical reasons are more important than climate conscious movements leading to aircraft boycott. Urgent dispatch of the sick and victims of an accident to hospitals is a case in point. At least for long trips, reaching destination fast can save a life. Trips by air done in an hour would be dragged to more than a day by train.
Duration matters
Will this option for carbon neutral travel make good the losses arising from overall delay in life?
Flight shaming or train bragging whichever angle you see the trend of travel is a radical shift. Deteriorating quality of atmosphere from smoke pumped from aircraft is mostly an obsession with the European travelers. The chief reason is geographical. From one end of a country to the other travel options don’t make much difference in time gained or lost countries being small. Even movement from one country to other within Europe is just a few hours away. Two extreme ends of Europe, Denmark and Italy could connect in less than 5 hours by train.
For that matter, high speed train connects Paris and Luxembourg in little over 2 hours. You can travel by train while enjoying the scenic beauty and ensure you are not ruining the ecosystem. The entire Europe features a manageable size where you go places by train and still not lose out on important time schedules.
For other continents like the Americas, Asia and the Down Under, their sheer size would make end to end train travels a time consuming affair. The size of the countries included are large enough what to talk about continents! In Africa, the terrain is inhospitable and the run is along wilds inhabited mostly by dangerous big fives.
Train travel would be far too risky even if the tracks are laid. Railway infrastructure in other parts of the world still does not catch up with European standards to guarantee a smooth and speedy travel. So doing a leisurely train journey in vast countries like Russia, China, Brazil and India would mean staying away from work for a length of time just not affordable.
In Sweden, the employment policies are relaxed making long train journeys possible. Swedes enjoy a minimum of 25 government mandate days of paid annual leaves in addition to normal holidays. So long train trips staying away from workplace isn’t a big deal. For a comparison, the US incumbent policies are more stringent offering no paid vacations. Doing long train journeys is simply not possible it would lead to loss of pay.
As inference for most parts of the world, flight shaming is more of finding a scapegoat rather than locating appropriate sources of air pollution. Cement and concrete producing plants contribute to a substantial proportion of Co2 poisoning of atmosphere. Why isn’t a movement coming up in any part of the world to explore possibilities of more eco-friendly cement alternatives?
Sustainable tourism is limited in train bragging
In all probabilities, train bragging doesn’t sound sacrosanct. It is not a solution to keep atmospheric pollution under control in one hand and meeting travelers demands on the other. A number of conflicting targets concerning travel and its impact on climate need a tradeoff. Outright vilification of a specific mode of travel and glorification of another mode is not a fair answer.
Whatever may be the result of efforts made to free the atmosphere from carbon clog, Thunberg’s endeavor is commendable. Her tender age and her deficiency in motor coordination could not place a barrier to her efforts. It is like throwing down the gauntlet outright no matter how far she succeeds in her mission. At least she has given a dedicated try.
simplyroam 