Trains - the future of fun, low-footprint conferencing?

Claire Hoolohan, senior lecturer at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research describes how she recently attended a conference where people travelled together on the Eurostar, some with the aim of writing a paper on the way.

“When organisers can take more responsibility for the door-to-door aspect of their event, it provides an extended platform for participants to collaborate.”

Deputy director of CAST, Stuart Capstick added: “If conference organisers want to innovate and come across as progressive, increasingly people are aware of climate change and at some point, something has to change when it comes to how we travel to events. It is appealing to attend a conference that is actually taking these things seriously.”

To demonstrate their commitment to low-carbon mobility, a CAST Centre team recently travelled together to the International Conference on Environmental Psychology in Aarhus via a two-day train journey, sharing their trip on social media.

“One of the reasons we tweet about our trip is the idea of ‘positive deviance’,” explains Capstick. “If you have a norm that is one thing–like flying to conferences–and you want to change that, it helps to have a few people start the ball rolling and shift things.”

Capstick describes how other participants comment on social shares, expressing a feeling of missing out. “There’s definitely bits they’re not missing out on because things go wrong! But it can be fun. And if you have an overnight you go out and grab a bite together and maybe even see some sites. So you’re getting the social stuff you want from a conference, but it’s on the way there. There’s no lost time. You socialise. You can work.” 

Both Hoolohan and Capstick emphasise how participants themselves are key influencers, helping peers to see overland travel is not a burden, but a special, added experience.

Peters agrees that reframing ground trips, often seen as more inconvenient, is a key strategy that aids buy-in.

“We need to change our mindsets about the use of time. Yes, flights are shorter but if you include check-in and security you can be surprised at how similar the journey time is. And the train station is often located in the city, saving commute time. We recommend hotels that are located near the station so participants can walk straight off the train into their room.”

“It's also about how you spend your time. Waiting at an airport can be stressful and flying can be uncomfortable. On the train, you can get up and walk around whenever you want. There's wifi enabling you to work but you can also relax and unwind. We all live in a busy world, so slow travel is an investment in wellbeing. Taking the train is a great way to ensure everyone arrives relaxed and recharged, ready for the event.” 

Glenn Lyons, Mott MacDonald professor of future mobility at the University of the West of England, talks about how encountering a positive protest affirmed his choice to travel by train to a conference. “The European Transport Conference was definitely worth attending in person - but I wouldn't have gone and won't go to other events if I would have to fly.” Lyons is delivering keynote presentations online for events in Ghana and Australia later this year, each of which have climate action as their main conference theme.

While Lyon’s encounter with cheering protestors was spontaneous, the experience highlights an opportunity for organisers to reinforce positive behaviour on arrival. Rewards could include arrival celebrations, complimentary transfers to event venues, access to special events or digital swag for guests that make their own way by low-carbon options. 

Hoolohan raises the point that subsidising travel fares does not hurt but doesn’t always get to the heart of making ground transport accessible. So the effectiveness of incentives might be limited without these other measures to reframe and affirm the time spent travelling.

Sustainability and behaviour change specialist, Livvy Drake, of Sustainable Sidekicks agrees: “Incentives aren't motivating to people who have busy diaries and the company is paying, it is more about convenience and comfort.” She suggests using deterrents, like expensive car parking, to encourage train and transit use as avoiding pain can be motivating for people. 

Matt Grey, founder of event:decision, a company that helps event organisers track and measure their carbon footprint, is optimistic that travel planning tools embedded in registration systems can help make low-carbon transport choices easier for participants. 

“You.Smart.Thing is a simple, intuitive tool that helps delegates view alternative travel options available to them. These are displayed on a single-click in order of carbon impact – and based on real journey times. Often the results can be surprising, especially in regions well served by public transport modes, with these being quicker than short-haul flights or driving.” 

Matthias Schultze, managing director of the German Convention Bureau recommends Chronotrains to encourage train trips to events. This easy-to-use, interactive online map helps to show how far you can travel from each station in Europe in less than 8 hours. Organisers of events in Germany can also take advantage of special rate event tickets offered through the national railway operator Deutsche Bahn.

Ecopassenger is another tool that helps compare the environmental impact of plane, car and train trips. While designed for individual traveller use, Hoolohan suggests there is value in measuring and communicating the total impact participants can have when they act together. 

“I recently attended an event where an opening speaker acknowledged those who had travelled by ground transport. The comment sparked conversation and over the course of the event it became apparent many people did travel by land and they started to talk about how and why they’d done so. It was an influential statement and could have been more powerful if the speaker had data to evidence the impact: ‘Thank you to the 100 people in this room that took a train and saved x amount of emissions.’” 

With more trip planning tools, willing participants and sustainable travel-minded planners, why has it taken so long for train travel to take off? 

The CAST Centre underlines that planner and participant efforts must be supported by policies within organisations that are actually paying for trips.

“It’s not just up to event organisers and attendees,” says Hoolohan. “Organisations can do a lot to clarify expectations around travel. There is a responsibility to set boundaries and update travel norms in organisations because the steer comes from there. Organisations’ travel policies need to change with the times.”

“The employer needs to realise people want to do the right thing,” adds Capstick. “And be prepared to cover the cost and time for their employees to do that."

The good news is travel policies are changing to support modal shifts. 

Recently the University of Glasgow, the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford updated their travel policies to promote low-carbon travel.

And according to the State of Climate Action in Business Travel report, issued in June by the Global Business Travel Foundation, corporate travel policies promoting modal shifts from air to rail are increasing. In 2023, 52 per cent were encouraging and 28 per cent were mandating the train for trips within a specified number of hours. Some companies are also offering incentives for train travellers, such as business class upgrades.

Peters is seeing this shift on the ground. “Last year there were four of us travelling from the UK to IBTM Barcelona but this year there was a whole carriage load from the UK, Europe and America travelling to IMEX Frankfurt.  It's really exciting to see the travel-conscious movement gain momentum.” 

And if you’re attending an event where the host is not yet hopping-on-the-train-wagon by providing organised experiences, Capstick is encouraging: “If no one is doing it, it can seem like it takes a lot to do it. But if you give it a try and talk about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, you start to see and connect with other people you relate to professionally or personally who are doing the same thing. It flicks the switch on what is possible. It’s positive deviance again. It expands possibilities.”