Southeast Communities Rail Partnership (SCRP) is using figures showing the environmental savings of travelling by train to encourage those visiting London for the Coronation of King Charles III to explore a host of venues on its community rail lines.
With 31 days to go until the coronation, SCRP has chosen various places on the nine lines it covers that have links to the history of the British royal family. The 12 locations are:
- Anne of Cleves House on the Sussex Downs Line
- Arundel Castle on the Arun Valley Line
- Battle Abbey on the 1066 Line
- Bognor Regis on the Arun Valley Line
- Guildford Castle on the North Downs Line
- Hastings Museum on the Marshlink Line
- Hever Castle on the Uckfield and East Grinstead – Oxted Line
- Penshurst Place on the Tonbridge – Reigate Line
- Reading Abbey on the Windsor – Reading Line
- Royal Pavilion Brighton on the Sussex Downs Line
- Royal Tunbridge Wells on the 1066 Line
- Worthing on the Sussex Coast Line
The partnership has also calculated the environmental impact of these train journeys, and how much less greenhouse gas is emitted compared to taking the same trip by car. The average emissions from a train journey from central London to these locations is calculated at 2.68kg of carbon dioxide equivalent, while a trip by car emits on average 9.07kg. This means that, on average, taking the train instead of driving creates 70% less emissions.
SCRP will be posting regularly on its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels in the run-up to the coronation on 6 May, detailing the individual savings in greenhouse gas emissions from train versus car journeys from London to the 12 venues on its lines with royal connections.
Tim Barkley, Chair of Southeast Communities Rail Partnership Community Interest Company, said: “The King has a long-standing interest in the environment and the coronation is the perfect opportunity to promote the green credentials of travelling by train.
“We hope people use the coronation as a chance to discover the royal history in our area and it’s so much better for the environment to discover our community rail lines by train rather than driving. We believe our ‘Community Rail Coronation Connections’ will show the benefits of train travel.”
More details of the various community rail lines, guides to discover each line and the methodology used in the calculations can be found on the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership website.