HC Deb 04 December 2002 vol 395 cc799-800W
Mr. Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has made of the environmental impact of a journey between London and Manchester by(a) rail, (b) air and (c) car. [85336]

Mr. Jamieson

The estimates for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are as follows:

  1. (a) rail (average per passenger): 10.5 kg
  2. (b) air (average per passenger): 32 kg
  3. (c) car (average petrol):
    • per car: 58 kg
    • average per passenger: 37 kg
  4. (d) car (average diesel):
    • per car: 35 kg
    • per passenger: 22 kg.

These CO2 emissions estimates have been produced using factors developed for the guidelines for company reporting on greenhouse gas emissions published by DETR in 2001 and are based on a journey distance of 177 miles. In the case of air travel and rail travel, they make no allowance for travel to the airport or railway station. Emissions per passenger for travel by car will depend on the size of the vehicle, and the number of passengers. Estimates are based on an average car and average car occupancy over all journeys of 1.59 passengers per car derived from National Travel Survey in the period 1999–2001.

Estimates for air quality pollutants are available from the Commission for Integrated Transport in: "A Comparative Study of the Environmental Effects of Rail and Short-haul Air Travel", September 2001.

Emissions from regional journeys by private car, high-speed rail and domestic aircraft
Grammes per passenger journey
Car journey (single person) High-speed rail (current) Domestic air
NOx 330 31 99
PM10 8 2 3
CO 2,162 6 130
NMVOC 297 1 13
SO2 7 71 9