Sir Rod Eddington in defending his contentious proposal for a road tunnel has hit back at his critics, suggesting many had bought into “myths” about the green benefits of public transport. As reported in The Leader November 4, Sir Rod Eddington, said the transport debate was “surrounded by a series of myths”, such as the idea trains were always more environmentally-friendly than cars.

“Trains are much bigger than cars,” Sir Rod told a breakfast for youth charity Western Chances last Thursday. “A lightly loaded train is a lot less energy-efficient than a properly-loaded motor car.”

But Sir Rod has ignored the cost of creating the steel and plastic to make 1000 cars versus one train which is working all day long. And creating concrete to build all the roads and car parks at each end emits a lot of carbon.

Cars are almost never properly loaded. This is because the family wagon is a major purchase and often bought to tow a trailer for annual holidays even though a single occupant is typically driving to work.

Sir Rod is well aware how low occupancy rates are on our freeways during the congested peak periods. All attempts around the world to increase car occupancy rates have had poor results. Car pooling and transit lanes have had minimal impacts. Trains are always fully loaded in the peaks, but now even the three-carriage trains after 8 pm are fully loaded. So comparing a fully loaded car to a lightly loaded train is not relevant. Continue Reading…