Environmental activists to travel to COP26 on 'climate train'

A group of environmental activists from around Europe will head to the COP26 summit in Glasgow on board a specially chartered “climate train”.

Around 500 people, who will also include representatives of the rail industry and policymakers, will set off from Amsterdam on October 30.

The journey has been billed as “Rail to the COP” and is organised by Youth for Sustainable Travel, who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 2019 to join COP25.

After leaving Amsterdam they will travel via Rotterdam and Brussels to London, before taking an Avanti West Coast train to Glasgow.

The organisations behind the climate train, who include parts of the European rail industry, say they want to promote rail transport as an alternative to aviation.

Delegations from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium will be on board.

Mara de Pater, chairwoman of Youth for Sustainable Travel, said: “It is a unique opportunity to have all these different groups together on the train.

“We organised a programme on the train to bring the different expertise and perspectives into discussion in dialogues and workshops.

“The core theme in these sessions is fair and sustainable transition in the travel industry.”

She added: “However, at the moment, air traffic is much more attractive than the train due to legislation and regulations.

“Airlines, for example, hardly pay any taxes, whereas train companies do.”