Eastbourne students quiz Southern Rail about green train travel

Two Eastbourne media students have quizzed Southern Rail about the environmental benefits of travelling by train for a half hour radio documentary.

Logan Freeman and Zahim Yenipinar, aged 17, from the East Sussex College Group, interviewed Head of Environment & Sustainability Jason Brooker for the programme that was broadcast on 87.7FM Eastbourne Youth Radio and can be streamed on www.eyr.org.uk but this link takes you straight to the show (13 minutes in) EYR 2025 Thursday 20th November East Sussex College by EYR Listen Again | Mixcloud.

Logan said: “A lot of the students here at college are thinking about getting their first car and we wanted to explore how that compares with using the train – especially considering the environmental difference.”

Jason explains in the documentary that trains are the most environmentally-friendly form of public transport available – especially Southern’s electric fleet.

Transport is responsible for 30% of all UK domestic carbon emissions and cars emit the most – 54%. Rail is the lowest and produces just 1.3% of the total.

Jason said: “Public transport is great for the environment when compared with private cars simply because they carry more people for the amount of energy used. The journey from Eastbourne to Brighton on one of our trains, for example, emits half as much CO2 as a car per passenger.

“Added to that, trains last much longer. We have trains that are over 20 years old. They are regularly refurbished and renewed and it’s only at the very end of their decades-long life when they then get broken down. How many people do you know have a car that old on the road – and running efficiently?”

Logan and Zahim put to Jason the cost of train tickets. Jason pointed to railcards that knock 1/3 off tickets and pay themselves back very quickly. There are Advance fares to, with tickets to London from as little as £8 – which can also be discounted with a railcard.

And students studying at many Sussex colleges benefit from unlimited discounted travel between their place of study, home and places to see friends and family nearby through Southern’s Unizone ticket.

Jason added: “You also don’t have to park if you take the train– drive into Brighton and it will cost you at least £20 for the day – plus, for older students, you’ll have to watch what you drink!

“People do worry sometimes about service disruption if they take the train. That does sometime happen but we’ve recently improved the service and it runs really frequently,, so there’s normally another one along shortly after if a train is delayed or cancelled. And have you seen the congestion on the A27?”

Zahim said: "We really enjoyed getting the chance to talk to Jason, discussing the different environmental impacts of taking the train vs using a car. Hopefully, this will make people think more about the environmental choices they make.”

ENDS