News Release: 1 September 2010 greentraveller.co.uklaunches online guide to ferry services for foot passengers
Greentraveller.co.ukhas launched an online ferry journey planner with details of over 80 ferryjourneys foot passengers can take between the UK, Ireland and continentalEurope. http://www.greentraveller.co.uk/plan-your-journey <http://www.greentraveller.co.uk/plan-your-journey> includesdetailed information on public transport transfers to and from the ports,prices, sample itineraries, as well as direct links to book tickets. The 80 passengerferry routes include: â Train and Ferry from Manchester toDublin (from £24 one way), Edinburghto Belfast (from £29 one way) and Londonto Dublin (from £27 one way) â Train and Ferry from National ExpressEast Anglia train stations via Harwich to the Hook of Holland, Netherlands(from £35 one way) â Ferry from Dover to Calais,Northern France (from £25 one way) â Ferry from Portsmouth to Santander,Northern Spain (from £47 one way) Richard Hammond,Chief Executive and Founder of greentraveller.co.uk, says: "Travelling as a foot passenger on a traditional ferry service is one ofthe greenest ways to travel between the UK, Ireland and the continent, yet itis often difficult to find information on how public transport links in withthe vast network of ferry services at home and overseas. "Our new online ferry journey planner shows how easy it can be to takethe train or bus to a ferry port then hop across to Ireland or ContinentalEurope and continue the journey overland. "We hope that our online guide to ferry services will be the first portof call for foot passengers looking to plan and book their holidays overseas." The latest figures provided by theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) give the greenhouse gasemissions associated with transport as: â Foot passenger on aferry: 22.54g CO2e per passenger kilometre âRail passenger on a Eurostar train: 17.14g CO2e per passenger kilometre â Air passenger on a domestic flight (between UK airports): 205.15g CO2e perpassenger kilometre â Air passenger on a short haul flight (UK to Central Europe): 116g CO2eper passenger kilometre. Greentraveller's guide to foot passenger ferry servicesis published in conjunction with the Passenger Shipping Association (www.discoverferries.co.uk <http://www.discoverferries.co.uk/> ). Bill Gibbons,Director of the Passenger Shipping Association and Discover Ferries commented: "We are delighted to be partnering with greentraveller on the launch ofthe `Plan your journey by Ferry' section of their website. We hope the sectioninspires and encourages a new generation of travellers to discover thetreasures right on our doorstep and further afield, and reminds those who haveforgotten, just how accessible and easy ferry travel can be. Not only areferries reliable, flexible and great value - but you can rest assured that youare doing your bit for the environment." Notes to editors Thegreenhouse gas emissions quoted in this release are from the following source: 2010 Guidelines to Defra / DECC's GHGConversion Factors for Company Reporting. Produced by AEA for the Department ofEnergy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food andRural Affairs (Defra) (updated 8 August 2010). CO2e denotes 'Carbondioxide equivalent', which is a universal unit of measurement used to indicatethe global warming potential of one unit of carbon dioxide. It is used toevaluate the releasing of different greenhouse gases against a common basis. The figure given forfoot passenger ferry travel is based on figures for conventional mixedpassenger and vehicle ferries (RoPax `Roll-on Roll-off ferries') on UK routessupplied by members of the Passenger Shipping Association and are based on dataprovided by Best Foot Forward carried out in 2007/8. The calculated figure isbased on ferry fuel consumption and passengers transported, but does notinclude any data for passenger only ferry services (such as passenger only highspeed catamaran services), which would be expected to have significantly higheremission factors per passenger kilometre. New emission factors for CH4 and N2Oare based on UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory default values for 2008 (AEA, 2010). The emissions factorsfor air passengers are intended to be an aggregate representation of thetypical emissions per passenger km from illustrative types of aircraft. Actualemissions will vary significantly according to the type of aircraft in use, theload, cabin class, specific conditions of the flight route, etc. The emissionfactors refer to aviation's direct carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) andnitrous oxide (N2O) emissions only. There is currently uncertainty over theother non-CO2 climate change effects of aviation (including water vapour,contrails, NOx etc) which may indicatively be accounted for by applying amultiplier. The appropriate factor to apply is subject to uncertainty but wasestimated by the IPCC in 1999 to be in the range 2-4, with current bestscientific evidence suggesting a factor of 1.9. If used, this factor would beapplied to the emissions factors set out here. Aboutgreentraveller.co.uk: greentraveller.co.uk is a website thatprovides information on how to have a greener holiday. It features over 400 holidaysthat can be conveniently reached by train or ferry, and over 130 eco-friendlyplaces to stay in the UK and Europe. The website's journey planner givespractical advice (including prices and sample itineraries) for over 60 trainjourneys from London St Pancras International to Europe (as far afield asMadrid, Copenhagen and Morocco) and over 80 ferry journeys between the UK,Ireland and Europe. It also has an award-winning blog that features news andreviews from leading eco travel writers. greentraveller was founded in 2006 by travel writer, Richard Hammond, co-authorof Clean Breaks - 500 new ways to see theworld (Rough Guides, 2009). In November 2009, greentraveller.co.uk was thewinner of the British Travel PressAwards, Travel Editors' Green Award. The Sunday Times has described greentraveller as "the first placeto look for green holidays". About the Passenger Shipping Association: The Passenger ShippingAssociation (www.the-psa.co.uk) is the trade association for the ferry industryin the UK and represents all passenger shipping interests within the UK. ThePSA's consumer website www.discoverferries.co.uk provides comprehensive detailsof ferry companies and routes from the UK to the near continent, the ChannelIslands, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight and Ireland. There are direct ferry routesto Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, France and Spain as well as easy accessto Germany and beyond. ----- Ends ----- Press Enquiries RichardHammond: E-mail: rich...@greentraveller.co.uk; Tel: +44 (0)7968 765404.
