Tour specific travel advice to cut carbon emissions – for Haute Maurienne
The Eagles now has a target to emit net zero carbon from its activities within two full seasons, by cutting emissions by swapping from air to train, for example; and by offsetting. At the moment, we estimate net annual emissions from club tours to be 280 tonnes. (To keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees by 2100, each person should emit on average no more than 1.5 tonnes per year.) If you would like to help reach the club’s target, there are two main things you can do:
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Offset your travel (by whatever mode) by buying from the Club’s emissions offset scheme at a cost of around £3.50 for an average return flight within Europe and less for other modes.
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Choose lower emission mode(s) of transport for all or part of your trip. (Taking a direct flight from say Edinburgh to Munich then continuing to Innsbruck by train, instead of taking connecting flights, will still cut emissions. Or travel by train in one direction and plane the other.)
Per passenger, the rough CO2 emissions for a return from London to Geneva are as follows
Direct flight, Economy Class 400kg
Large car, 4 passengers 160kg
Small car, 4 passengers 80kg
Coach 50kg
Train (e.g. Eurostar ) 25kg
(Source of data: here)
This document gives a few tips on booking lower carbon travel to the rough start point of your tour, Termignon, from London. The closest station to Termignon is Modane, linked by bus https://www.transdevsavoie.com/fr/fiches-horaires-transdev-savoie (Modane to Bonneval service).
Train. Modane is around 9 hours by train from London St Pancras, with a change in Paris (from Gare du Nord to Gare du Lyon, using one fast metro line; tickets are sold at the Eurostar buffet car). For train times see www.bahn.co.uk – just enter London (or your local station) and your final destination, anywhere in Europe.
Eurostar does not offer through London-Modane tickets and trains. You can buy a ticket to Paris at www.eurostar.com, and another onwards from Paris at www.oui.sncf.com. To be on the safe side allow 60 minutes to change in Paris. Booked well ahead Eurostar charge around £60 for a single from London to Paris; SNCF charge about the same for a single from Paris to Modane.
Eurostar and German Rail (DB) tickets go on sale 6 months in advance and SNCF 4 months. More info at https://www.eagleskiclub.org.uk/plan-your-trip/low-carbon-travel/train-travel-tips-and-hints.
Bus. If you are a committed coach traveler/spotter, you can travel overnight from London to Paris and then onwards to Chambery in a total of about 18-20 hours and for around £50, booking ahead at www.flixbus.co.uk. From Chambery onward travel is by train to Modane.
Car. The Michelin route planner www.viamichelin.com suggests a drive time from London to Termignon of 12-13 hours, a distance of 1100 km/700 miles and tolls of €79 one way. It also calculates fuel costs for your car, though not Euroshuttle.
Carshare. Blablacar is the main carsharing app in western Europe. You pay for a lift – details at www.blablacar.com. For regional trips, it is often cheaper, faster and more frequent than the train, although trips are usually posted with only one or two days' notice. If driving, register to get paying passengers – e.g. €70 for Calais-Lyon.
Travelling from outside London? Apologies if this info all seems a bit London-centric but pretty much all rail and bus travel from the UK to the continent is via London, though when driving, the Hull-Zeebrugge or Newcastle Amsterdam ferries may be good (though still carbon intensive) alternatives to Euroshuttle. By train, it is possible to return as far north as Edinburgh in one day from some stations in the western Alps (Modane, for example; or from Zurich), though more difficult on the outward due to the time difference. See www.bahn.co.uk