Travelling to Quakers in Italy gathering
by Executive Secretary Michael Eccles
As you may know, in 2022 EMES agreed a sustainability policy. We made the decision that travel by land and sea, using public transport, would be the default for EMES staff and role holders. Travelling by air only when it is essential.
Since we agreed the policy many of us have been doing a lot of train travel around Europe and getting more experienced in what routes to take and how to book. I would like to tell you about my journey to Italy for the Italian Friends Annual Gathering at Borgo Basino last weekend. I set off from home in Birmingham just before lunch on Thursday and travelled to London and then on to Paris on the Eurostar. I stayed overnight in Paris and left around 8am on a train to Geneva, followed by another train to Brig in the Swiss Alps before changing onto another train to Milan with stunning views of Lake Maggiore. Finally I took a train to Forli, where I was met and driven the final half hour of the journey.
The journey home starting on Monday was almost identical in reverse but without the stop in Brig as I had a direct train from Milan to Geneva. There were some stunning views of the Alps on the journey home too. I stayed overnight in Paris on Monday and then left for London around 8.30 on Tuesday morning and was home in Birmingham in time for lunch.รน
If you’re travelling in Europe I encourage you to think about going by train rather than flying. Most trains have WiFi, meaning I can keep working during the travel time when I’m not looking at the views out of the window! You can read the EMES sustainability policy here and also find some links to websites that may help you research and book travel: https://fwccemes.org/emes/sustainability The carbon dioxide produced by my 2758km return journey by rail was 0.0012 tonnes, whereas if I had flown my journey would have produced 0.947 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
I’d be glad to hear from you if you’ve got any questions about my journey or other journeys I have made for EMES by train.
