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New UK rail travel platform promises to plant a tree for every train ticket sold


A new train ticketing platform launched today promises to plant one tree for every ticket sold, something it hopes will appeal to climate change-minded commuters.

Trainhugger says it will use 50p of every £1.50 booking fee to pay for a sapling, in partnership with the Royal Forestry Society and the Royal Forestry Society of Scotland.

The site will sell the same UK routes and fares as other rail sites, such as Trainline, which charge web bookings from 80p- £1.75 per ticket (and a reservation fee). 35p- £1.75, free on day of travel). Passengers who book directly with a rail provider like Southern or Virgin don’t usually pay a booking fee, but the founders of Trainhugger believe they should be able to win enough business from competitors. to make a significant contribution to combating climate change. They hope to plant 10 million trees by 2025.

“If rail goes back to where it was before the pandemic – 1.8 billion journeys in 2019 – and Trainhugger sells 5% of those passenger journeys, that would be 90 million bookings or 90 million trees and we’ll be in line with the government’s goal of planting 90 trees. – 120 million trees (30,000 hectares) per year,” said Felix Tanzer, who co-founded the company with Ed Caldecott.

Each 50p contribution covers the price of a “whip”, a sapling smaller than a sapling, but the cost of land and the planting and maintenance of the tree are borne by members of the RFS, which includes three forests and owners. other land to pay. . The type of tree planted will be appropriate for the location. “We don’t plant sitka spruce because it’s ‘not good for biodiversity,'” Caldecott said.

Although Trainhugger and its Android and iOS apps officially launched today, passengers have been able to book tickets through the site since the end of October. It has received 25,000 reservations, which equates to 25,000 trees, with the first tree being planted at RFS’s Hockeridge and Pancake Forest in Buckinghamshire.

The site uses a third-party booking and payment system – Retail Tracking – and says it will offer the same fares as the other sites.

Passengers who check in will get a tally of the trees they’ve personally paid for and can learn about the farmers who planted them.

Initially, Caldecott and Tanzer planned to launch a rewards program similar to Airmiles for train trips, called Trainmiles, but said it “quickly feels a lot like the 1990s, like the thing.” that Branson would do, and not something our generation would care about. And what do we care about? Climate change.”

They believe passengers will be willing to switch to their platform because there is so little choice in the market and because many train companies have a poor brand image because of delays and technical problems. .

“We can talk to our customers about positive things. Your commute to work may be difficult, but at least you’ve planted 60 trees. Tanzer said.

Although rail travel has only recovered to about 40% of pre-Covid levels, Tanzer said changes in work and travel patterns could benefit the plan. “Those who already have a season pass but now only travel once a week are buying individual tickets, which means they will be planting a tree on each journey.”

He added, restrictions on foreign travel, a growing sense of carbon footprint, a renewed appreciation for UK accommodation facilities and the current high cost of petrol will all help. boost the popularity of UK rail travel in the future, he added.

The site joins other recent innovations in sustainable transport in the UK, including Lumo, FirstGroup’s new 100% electric rail service, which runs between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh and launches in October, and Karshare, a community car-sharing service that allows drivers to rent cars from private owners in five cities.





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