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Writer's pictureEveline Vouillemin

Sustainable Travel News - Vol.4

Welcome to our fourth sustainable travel roundup, created in collaboration with Flight Free UK, where we will share some of the most recent updates, news, and developments shaping the future of eco-friendly travel.


This month's stories highlight plans for a new tram service in Wales' capital city, the launch of a new direct train line between London and Bordeaux and the zero-emission buses operating in Zion National Park.


Follow us on Instagram for more sustainable travel news stories and climate inspiration.


Green travel rewards on offer this World Car Free Day

World Car Free Day is taking place on the 22nd September and members of Good Journey (an organisation that champions car free travel), such as the National Trust, English Heritage and RHS Gardens, are offering rewards to visitors who travel to their sites car-free. 


The reward could be a discount on entry, a free hot drink or money off in the shop. But others are also offering some more unique rewards such as freshly produced apple juice, flower seeds for the garden, your choice of second-hand book and a bag of flour from a local watermill.


Find out more on the Good Journey website.


Bike shelter impacts stadium's carbon footprint

In 2022, in response to a fan survey on sustainable travel, Lincoln City Football Club installed a bike station at the stadium to encourage staff and supporters to cycle to work and to the match, to help reduce the club’s carbon footprint. This investment has already contributed to a significant reduction in the volume of cars at the LNER Stadium.



Direct train from London to Bordeaux to start running in 2026

A new train is set to start running between London and the French city of Bordeaux in 2026 – a direct route, taking you from one city to the other in about five hours’ time.


Even now, getting from London to Bordeaux is fairly straightforward: you just have to change trains in Paris. However, this project is aiming to make the journey a lot faster and more customer friendly within a couple of years.


Find out more on the Travel Tomorrow website


View of buildings in the distance from a green park in Bordeaux.

Over 150 million journeys made by young people using free bus pass

Since the Scottish Government introduced free bus travel for under 22s, more than 150 million free bus journeys have been made by children and young people in Scotland. The scheme aims to encourage more sustainable travel and tackle issues related to transport poverty.


Find out more on the Transport for Scotland website.


Helsinki’s new eco-friendly wooden hotel

In the Katajanokan Laituri, a new eco-friendly wooden hotel, Solo Sokos Hotel Pier 4, aims to set a new standard in sustainable hospitality in Finland. The four-story structure showcases pioneering architectural methods combined with sustainable materials and uses renewable energy for the hotel’s daily operations.


The building is a part of Helsinki’s broader initiative to become carbon-neutral by 2030, reflecting a growing trend towards sustainability in urban development.


Find out more on the FTN News website.


The rising trend in dog-friendly rail travel

PetsPyjamas, the UK’s leading dog-friendly travel company, is delighted to report the growing trend of rail travel with pets with a recent survey confirming that 42% of dog owners now consider it their preferred mode of transport.


Find out more on the National World website.


Zion National Park shuttles go electric 

Zero-emission electric shuttles are now operational at Zion National Park where more than 4 million people visited the park in 2023. The zero-emission buses will improve the visitor experience with higher total capacity on board and quieter operations as the vehicles move through the park.


While Zion is the first park in the National Park System to transition to a fully electric transit fleet, the National Park Service is actively working to transition large bus fleets like those at Grand Canyon, Acadia, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, and Harpers Ferry national parks.  


Find out more on the National Park Service website.


The electric bus at Zion National Park in the car park in front of the mountains.

Plans for new tram in Wales' capital city revealed

Cardiff Crossrail is the name of a plan to build a light-rail route through the middle of the Welsh capital. The plans for the new tram have been revealed and it is hoped that the first stage of Cardiff Crossrail, connecting the city's central station with the bay, will be built by early 2029.


Cardiff council, which is working with Transport for Wales (TfW) to build the tramway, said Crossrail would eventually connect "some of the most deprived communities" in the city.


Find out more on the BBC website.


Smart sensors key to improving active travel in Solihull

Vivacity smart sensor technology is being tested on Solihull’s A34 Stratford Road in a bid to make busy crossings safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The early detection sensors enable traffic signals to go green quicker, giving cyclists a smoother and less interrupted journey.


Find out more on the Interchange website.


Blue Bird Delivers its 2,000th Electric School Bus

Clark County School District (CCSD) in Nevada received Blue Bird’s 2,000th electric vehicle (EV) to help the nation’s fifth largest school district transition its school bus fleet to electric.


Replacing 2,000 diesel-powered and polluting school buses with an equal number of zero-emission vehicles will educe harmful carbon emissions by more than 21,000 metric tons annually. In addition, nearly 150,000 students a day are no longer exposed to diesel tailpipe emissions linked to serious health issues such as asthma or heart disease.


Find out more on the Blue Bird website.


By Eveline Vouillemin ©

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