The annual global occasion is all about highlighting the importance of protecting the environment, with events taking place to mark it across the world.
Rail is one of the greenest ways to travel, with just 1.5 percent of transport emissions coming from this mode of transport. In fact, one person driving in a medium petrol car produces more than four times as much greenhouse gas per passenger mile compared to travelling by rail.
Hull Trains and Lumo have continually sought to minimise their environmental impact and support initiatives that are good for the planet. Lumo, for example, is the UK’s first operator with fully electric trains on all of its journeys, making it a staggering 25 times cleaner than flying.
Lumo, which connects the North East with London and Edinburgh, also priorities sustainability with paperless ticketing, the replacement of plastic bottles with sustainable alternatives, and a 50 percent plant-based menu.
Hull Trains, meanwhile, operates groundbreaking bi-mode trains which run on both electric and diesel. Running on electricity allows them to decrease emissions, whilst also decreasing noise pollution.
Travelling by Hull Trains from Hull to London King’s Cross is a 92% saving of CO2 compared to using a car, with that figure increasing to 96% from Doncaster to the same destination.
Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director of Lumo and Hull Trains, said: “World Earth Day is the perfect time to remind people just how environmentally friendly travelling by train is. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at both Lumo and Hull Trains.
“Our eco-friendly approach extends to every part of our businesses. For example, our paper-free Lumo office is ranked among the top 10 percent of the most sustainable new non-domestic buildings in the UK. Meanwhile, our brilliant Hull Trains team recently organised a special beach clean in Bridlington in partnership with charity partners the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
“As open access operators, we don’t receive any government funding, with all of our revenue self-driven. We’re proud to invest in sustainability and to set the standard for green travel.”
Find out more about the benefits of both Lumo and Hull Trains here.