Society is increasingly committed to the environment, as demonstrated by global movements such as tagskyrt (proudly travelling by train), which highlight the train as the most sustainable form of transportation.
The commitment of Renfe-SNCF in Cooperation to implementing sustainable measures in favour of the environment and to responsible tourism is clear: all the high-speed trains between Spain and France use renewable electrical energy with a low carbon footprint (every 100 km travelled by train avoids the emission of around 15 kg of CO2*). In this way, a plane or car en route from Barcelona to Paris generates 120 kg more CO2 than the train, that is, they cause 10 times more greenhouse effect.
Since the launch of the high speed service between Spain and France in 2013, more than 5 million international travellers have travelled with Renfe-SNCF in Cooperation. These trains have made more than 22,000 trips, covering 3.2 million kilometres, allowing a savings of half a million tonnes of CO2, an amount equivalent to the average annual emissions from electrical consumption by a city of 2 million inhabitants—as many as the cities of Lyon and Marseille combined.
If domestic travellers who also use Renfe-SNCF in Cooperation’s offering in France and Spain are added to these numbers, the figures approach a million tonnes of CO2, which would correspond to the average annual emissions from electrical consumption by a city of 3.7 million inhabitants, almost half the population of Catalonia.
The profile of the international traveller:
- On the four routes that Renfe-SNCF in Cooperation operates, 31% of the clients are French residents, 21% are Spanish residents, and 47% are travellers who live in other countries.
- Over 5.2 million international trips, 60% have been made in the services that link Barcelona with Paris; 18% on the Madrid-Barcelona-Marseille route; 13% on the route of Lyon and the remaining 9% on the route of Barcelona-Toulouse.
- In the latest satisfaction surveys, 93%** of the clients said they were satisfied or very satisfied with these high-speed services.
Free WiFi stands out as a new offering in 2019, with a satisfaction rate of 87% and a wide range of services and content.
*Source: Ecopassenger
**Rating by clients in a normal train operation situation