Careful of the Greenwash
Rail seems to be all the rage lately on the progressive travel radar here in Europe, and rightly so…but be careful, Greenwash lurks under the carbon-light promises.
Just over a week ago an article in the Guardian was gushing over the fact that Spain’s new high speed rail link between the countries 2 major cities Barcelona and Madrid was plucking high carbon travelers from the skies…and rightly so. But at what cost?
True, people can now whizz across the country at a fraction of the carbon cost that flying the same route would do, and really in about the same time. BUT, what they don’t tell you is that in opening the high speed line, they have shut down all regular trains between the 2 cities, thus forcing those who can’t afford the over 100€ ticket onto carbon spewing buses
that clog the growing road system here in Spain. At set times the supposedly public Spanish rail system RENFE slash prices and claim that tickets are cheap, but rock up to the counter and see what kind of a surprise you get.
I’m a huge fan of trains and love the idea that jet setters are opting for a greener alternative. I just don’t see why it has to be at the expense of sticking the rest of us on buses. As the high speed rail links expand here in Spain, expect more of us plying the motorways aboard uncomfortable rolling carbon spewers.
