"Travel without polluting": SNCF launches its CO2 emissions comparator

“

”.

A commercial argument that SNCF intends to put forward more than ever in the coming years.

Since March 4, the website of the railway company has offered a comparative tool calculating the carbon footprint of travelers according to their means of transport.

Read also: How the SNCF intends to move forward

Five modes of transport: train, plane, coach, car and carpooling are scrutinized.

The site gives them a final rating ranging from "

" to "

" for about sixty destinations.

SNCF intends to guide the reflexes of travelers by providing them with concrete information on the impact of their consumption.

Simulation on the SNCF comparator for a Paris-Lyon trip Oui.sncf

While consumers typically limit their purchases by monitoring ticket prices, it is unlikely that they previously measured the cost of their journeys in tonnes of carbon produced.

For a Paris-Lyon for example, a plane trip emits 66 kilos of CO2, or "

", and 66 times more than the train, according to the comparator.

Such a journey by car is equivalent to 5 years of use of an electric oven.

Measure the "useful time" of the journey

In addition to the environmental criterion, the new tool of the railway company displays indicators on the average journey time and "

".

The latter corresponds to the time that travelers "

".

For a Paris-Lyon, SNCF argues that a train trip allows you to use 80% of your travel time, against only 50% by plane.

The prices of these different means of transport per route are also not displayed.

To read also: "Purchase refused: you have exceeded your authorized CO2 limit"

The SNCF already made the CO2 emissions of their journey available to travelers when they finalized their reservation, before validating their shopping cart.

With an emission of 285 grams of CO2 over one kilometer per passenger, against 158 ​​grams by car and 14 grams by train, according to figures from the European Environment Agency, there is no doubt that journeys by TGV or TER risk systematically come out winners via the SNCF comparative tool.