When I board my first train out of St. Gallen this September, my exchange at Lancaster University Management School will already be reducing its footprint before I set foot on campus. Switzerland to the UK is one of the clearest cases in Europe for choosing rail over air: Eurostar’s own research shows that travelling London to Paris by train instead of plane cuts emissions by roughly 90 per cent, and the same pattern holds elsewhere on the continent (Paris to Barcelona: 11.5kg of CO2 by train versus 141kg by air). I used EcoPassenger, the International Union of Railways’ tool for comparing transport emissions, and The Man in Seat 61 to plan an SBB, TGV Lyria, Eurostar, and Avanti West Coast route through Basel, Paris, and London to Lancaster. It costs a few extra hours compared to flying, and I think that is a fair trade, especially given the UK’s legally binding commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 under UN Sustainable Development Goal 13 on Climate Action.
Lancaster itself makes the sustainable choice easy to keep making. It is a compact walkable city, and my background as a competitive athlete means getting around on foot or by bike is a preference, not a sacrifice. This fits the ethos of Green Lancaster and LUSU Green, the university’s sustainability partnership and volunteering programme, which channels UN SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities into everyday campus life. I plan to join LUSU Green’s volunteering activities during the term to see how a UK institution embeds sustainability into student life, compared with how HSG does at home. On arrival, I intend to source room essentials and kitchenware second hand through Lancaster’s Don’t Ditch It scheme rather than buying new, and to return anything I no longer need through the same scheme in December so it goes to the next cohort instead of landfill. I will also bring a reusable bottle, cup, and shopping bag to cut single use plastic. This keeps my time at Lancaster aligned with UN SDG 12 on Responsible Consumption and Productin, treating sustainability as part of the ordinary logistics of moving abroad, not an afterthought. Studying business at HSG has trained me to think in trade offs.
This exchange is my chance to apply that instinct somewhere more personal: proving to myself, in small and repeatable ways, that a few extra hours on a train, a second hand kettle, and a bit more effort are trade offs worth making.
Resources referenced:
• The Man in Seat 61 (www.seat61.com): route planning for European rail travel
• EcoPassenger (www.ecopassenger.org): tool from the International Union of Railways comparing well to wheel emissions of trains, cars, and planes
• Trainline app (www.thetrainline.com): booking and managing multi leg European rail tickets
• Green Lancaster / LUSU Green (www.lancaster.ac.uk/sustainability and lancastersu.co.uk/sustainability): Lancaster University’s sustainability partnership and volunteering programmes
• Don’t Ditch It (run via Green Lancaster, www.lancaster.ac.uk/sustainability):
