Travelling by train 'will not improve air quality'

Opting for rail travel rather than taking a domestic flight will not necessarily have any effect on reducing carbon emissions, a transport expert has claimed.

Paul Witherington, director of independent organisation Transport Watch, commented that government proposals to extend the rail network would be unlikely to offer any environmental benefit.

He said: "It's quite possible that these trains will turn out to be less environmentally friendly than the planes."

Mr Witherington added that the percentage of the UK's emissions created by trains and domestic flights is so small that swapping one method of transport for the other may have such a minute effect that it cannot be measured.

He went on to say that the government's claims that passengers who choose to travel by rail rather than air will be helping to reduce emissions levels was "a red herring".

Earlier this week, Gordon Brown announced that the government has ploughed £20 billion into transport projects this year.

In a speech to the Confederation of British Industry, he said that recommendations would be made next month for a new high-speed, north-south rail line running the length of the UK.

Posted by Lauren Steadman