Environment Articles

With the effects of climate change becoming ever more apparent in the world, it is important for each of us to take personal action to reduce our carbon footprint. While we need industry, businesses and governments to make big changes, the personal choices each of us make can have a big combined impact! Women often lead the way, and FAWCO Women seem to do it with a torch in their hands to better guide the way for others.

Let’s start by traveling to the Interim Meeting (IM) in Luxembourg by the most carbon neutral means available – for most of us that means coming by train. To help with that, members of the Environment Team have researched the most carbon neutral means to travel to Luxembourg from where we live, and we share that information with you.

The Deutsche Bahn (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml) provides the best info on train travel throughout Europe and it’s provided in English as well as other languages. The fact that buses are also more climate-friendly than flying is also worth mentioning and may provide good options for shortening travel time. And finally, keep in mind that taking the train one way is better than flying both ways. (It may seem like a lot of information here, but you are only leaving from one country, so just scroll down to that and skip the rest.)

Let’s not call it airplane shame, but Train Pride!

At the time of writing (March 25) mask requirements while on the train are in effect in several countries (we have mentioned it where applicable). That may or may not be the case two months from now, so check for current regulations.

The IM starts on Thursday, May 19 at 3pm/15:00 CET and ends Saturday, May 21, with the last general session concluding at 5pm/17:00 CET.

Switzerland (Team members Ann Zullinger, Karen Rudin & Paula Daeppen)

This is the link to the English page of the Swiss train company: https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html Masks and a vaccination certificate are required in the trains. (According to the website, some of the Swiss trains close their doors 2 minutes before their departure time, so keep that in mind.)

• Bern: One option takes 4 hrs 45 min and costs CHF 76.10: To Luxembourg: Thursday, May 19 at 9:36 from Bern HB (direction Basel) and arrives in Luxembourg at 14:15 (4 hrs 45 min). Two transfers are required: in Basel and Mulhouse. Return Trip: There are a number of options, but there is construction scheduled between Bern and Olten on Sunday, May 22, so there are fewer trains running. Check the website closer to the IM for up-to-date information.
• Zurich: One option takes 4 hrs 41 min and costs CHF 86: To Luxembourg: Friday, March 20 at 9:34 from Platform 15 (direction Paris Gare de Lyon) and arrives in Luxembourg at 14:15 (4 hrs 41 mins). One transfer is required, in Mulhouse. Return Trip: Depart 16:00 (with 3 transfers) – arrival Zurich 21:52 (5 hrs 52 min) OR: Depart 17:10 (with 4 transfers) – arrival Zurich 00:01 (6 hrs 51 min).

The Netherlands (Team member Anne van Oorschot)

Here is the English International page of the NS train service: https://www.nsinternational.nl/en Prices increase as departure date approaches, so early booking pays off!

• Amsterdam CS: There are numerous trains that leave earlier and later with varying prices. To Luxembourg: depart Thursday, May 19 at 8:08 from Spoor/Platform 7 and arrive in Luxembourg at 14:24 (6 hrs 16 min). Two transfers are required: in Köln and Koblenz. The price for second class is € 37.90. Return trip: (w/ Thalys) on Saturday, May 21, depart 17:10 (with one transfer of 24 min in Brussels); arrival Amsterdam CS at 22:44 (5 hrs 34 min) price for second class: €65.30 OR: (w/ regular train service) on Saturday, May 21 depart 17:10 (with one transfer of 16 mins. in Brussels); arrival Amsterdam CS at 23:35 (5 hrs 34 min) price: €41.
• The Hague CS: There are numerous trains that leave earlier and later with varying prices, so here are two examples. To Luxembourg: depart Thursday, May 19 at 7:48 from Spoor/Platform 3 and arrive in Luxembourg at 13:46 (5 hrs 58 min). Four transfers are required: in Breda (5 min), Mechelen (11 min), Leuven (13 min) and Liege (8 min). The price for second class is € 27.50 OR: (w/ Thalys) depart Thursday, May 19 at 8:25 from Spoor/Platform 1 and arrive in Luxembourg at 13:50 (5 hrs 25 min). Two transfers are required: in Rotterdam (5 min) and Brussels (25 min). The price for second class is  € 75.10. Return trip: (w/ Thalys) on Saturday, May 21, depart 17:10 with 2 transfers: Brussels (24 min) and Rotterdam (16 min); arrive in The Hague CS at 22:42 (5 hrs 32 min) – price: €70.70 OR: depart 17:10 with 2 transfers: Brussels (39 min) and Breda (5 min); arrive in The Hague CS at 23:12 (6 hrs 02 min) –price: €36.

France (Team members Sheila Doucet & Suzi Tart)

• Paris: To Luxembourg: depart Thursday, May 19 at 11:42 and arrive in Luxembourg at 13:11 (1 hr 29 min); no transfers are required. Return trip: no trains after 5 pm on Saturday. Best departure on Sunday, May 22: depart 18:34 (with two transfers: bus + waiting time in station prior to train) – arrival Paris 22:27 (3 hrs 53 min).
• For other locations in France, see: https://www.sncf.com/en

Scotland (Team member Amanda Drollinger)

I find the best option for train travel for a trip in Europe is the Interrail (if European citizen) or Eurorail (if only a US passport holder) pass.

It’s a flat fee for all trains over a set number of days which makes buying the train tickets easy. On the first and last day of the pass it can be used for trains in your home country, to leave and return.
For those that want to pay for the tickets separately and not purchase a pass, the Interrail-Eurorrail app is still the most effective way I’ve found for planning a rail journey that extends over multiple European countries. The Interrail-Eurorrail app is free to download and works for all destinations across Europe with live and accurate train times. The app appears as Rail Planner once downloaded. The Rail Planner gives you all the options with train connections and total travel times. The app is constantly being updated, and I use it for in-country train travel information, too. 
For example, travel from Edinburgh to Luxembourg on the shortest possible train journey would take 11 hours and 10 minutes and have three changes:

• Edinburgh to London Kings Cross at 5:40 am–9:40 am. Change to St Pancras station (St Pancreas and Kings Cross are next to each other and it takes 5 min to cross the street)
• London St Pancreas to Bruxelles-Midi at 11:04–14:05
• Bruxelles-Midi to Luxembourg at 14:56–17:50

Italy (Team member Jocelyn Fitzgereld)

In Italy there are FAWCO Clubs in Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Torino, Genoa, Florence and Venice. As most people in Italy already know, the websites for train schedules and tickets are https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html and https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/italy. Both sites can be read in English – just click on the little UK flag along the top tool bar. Please note that in order to travel on any train in Italy you need to be in possession of a Green Card, which is given after three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. It is also mandatory to wear a FFP2 face mask at all times. These instructions are also on the two websites above.

It is probably easiest for members to check the possibilities themselves on these sites. For me coming from Florence; the situation is not very rosy. The trip to Luxembourg from Florence takes 16 hrs 29 min, requires three train changes and the cost is €121.80 (Departure: 15:55 – arrival in Luxembourg at 8:24).

The return from Luxembourg is just the same but backwards, also taking 16 hrs 29 min with a cost of €121.80.

For both of these trips, there is a less expensive option of € 95.70, but that takes 19 hours and requires 5 train changes.

Norway, Sweden, Denmark (Team Member Rena Levin)

Train travel from Norway/the Scandinavian countries is a reminder that I’m on the outskirts of Europe.Travelers from Norway and Sweden will need to spend a night en route. Hamburg is a nice (and the most common) place to stay when traveling by train to the continent. Travelers from Denmark can complete the journey in a day, but this entails an evening arrival. Here’s a general overview for all of the Scandinavian clubs. 

• Copenhagen to Hamburg (some direct trains, some routes involve a transfer in Fredricia)
• Hamburg - Koblenz
• Koblenz - Luxembourg

Germany (Team members Christine Riney, Ayuska Motha & Adelina Matinca)

There are 7 clubs in Germany and an excellent train system to get people around. The Bahn has an easy website where you can easily check train times and prices. Because there are a lot of variables, (different kinds of price reduction cards) it is hard to give accurate information on prices and departure times. We will give one travel itinerary from Frankfurt as an example. For more train times and prices, see: https://www.bahn.com/en. For some of the German cities (Berlin, Hamburg) it is not possible to leave Thursday morning and arrive in time for the start of the 15:00 session that afternoon, so arriving on Wednesday evening would be necessary.

Frankfurt: To Luxembourg: depart from Frankfurt Hbf on Thursday, May 19 at 9:08 from Platform 19; arrival in Luxembourg at 13:24 (4 hrs 16 min). One transfer in Koblenz is required. Return trip (utilizes both bus and train travel): depart 18:10 (with two transfers: Saarbrucken and Maannheim) – arrival Frankfurt 22:08 (3 hrs 58 min). Total cost of outward/return: savings fare = €40.80; Flexpreis cost = €111.20.

Spain (Team Member Joan Evers)

For train travel in Spain, I used https://www.thetrainline.com/. It is not possible to arrive in time on Thursday, so you would have to leave for the IM on Wednesday, May 18.

• Madrid: One option by train to Luxembourg will take 21 hrs 7 min with a cost of €169.10: leave Madrid Atocha station at 13:25, taking the AVE to Narbonne arriving at 16:40. Take an SNCF train at 20:04 from Narbonne to Toulouse Matabiau arriving at 21:17. Depart Toulouse Matabiau on another SNCF train at 22:18 and arrive in Paris Austerlitz at 6:50. Depart from Paris Gare de l’Est at 8:15 and arrive in Luxembourg at 10:32. The return trip is similair in duration and price.

Should you decide to go from Madrid to Luxembourg by air, the amount of CO₂ generated would be 0.499 ton.

• Barcelona: One option by train to Luxembourg will take 10 hrs and 42 min: take the TGV at 9:10 from Barcelona Sants to Paris Gare de Lyon, arriving at 15:49. Depart Paris Gare de l’Est via another TGV at 17:40 for an arrival of 19:52 in Luxembourg. With 2 TGVs, the cost of this option is €203. (There is another option for € 73.99 which takes 17 hrs and 52 minutes, with one change in Paris.) The return trip options mirror those above in route and price.

Should you decide to go from Barcelona to Luxembourg by air, the amount of CO₂ generated would be 0.422 ton.

Locations from which the train is not an option

For some locations, taking the train is not an option. The best is to get a direct flight to Luxembourg, or fly into someplace close (Brussels, Paris, etc.) and then take a train from there to Luxembourg. It would be great if you compensated for your flight by contributing to an organization that has a variety of activities to reduce CO₂ (planting trees, providing efficient cook stoves, etc.). A good site to use to calculate and compensate for the CO₂ created by your air travel is My Climate.

A nice way to compensate is by planting trees in the FAWCO Grove. We have decided to use the lifetime absorption of 1000k or 1 metric ton of CO₂ by one tree as our guideline. The cost to plant one tree is £6 / €6.80 / $7.50. Make sure to round up for a whole number of trees.

• USA: Leaving from NY: Amount of CO₂ created by air travel: 2.1 ton; Houston Texas: Amount of CO₂ created by air travel: 2.7 ton
• Dubai: air travel from Dubai to Luxembourg: Amount of CO₂ created by travel: 1.6 ton
• India, Mumbai: air travel from Mumbai to Luxembourg: Amount of CO₂ created by travel: 2.2 ton
• Morocco: air travel from Rabat to Luxembourg: Amount of CO₂ created by travel: 0.739 ton

All photos from Pixabay.