LOW CARBON JOURNEY Plan your

CAR-FREE TRAVEL

Find hundreds of car-free walks in the UK at carfreewalks.org and a network of walking routes that connect Britain’s towns and villages at beta.slowways.org. Keep an eye out too for the ‘Walkers are Welcome’ logo given to over 100 towns and villages that are particularly welcoming to walkers. You can also find how to travel car-free to many of the UK’s best visitor attractions with discounts when you arrive by train, bus, bike or on foot at goodjourney.org.uk.

Train Taxi

If you need to take a taxi for the final leg of a journey, the Train Taxi website lists taxi firms that serve railway stations through the UK (traintaxi.co.uk).

Walks From Railway Stations

Several rail operators provide information on walking routes from their stations

Northern Railway

Mid Cheshire Rail

Scotrail

Settle Carlisle

North Staffs Rail

Southeastern Railway

East Suffolk Lines

West Somerset Railway

Great Scenic Railways

Plusbus And Plusbike

Look for the PlusBus and PlusBike icons on the website and app for National Rail (nationalrail.co.uk) when you search for a particular train journey.

PlusBus is a bus and tram pass that is valid with your train ticket – the icon links to the relevant page on the website of PlusBus (plusbus.info) so you can buy the relevant PlusBus ticket for your location. It can be added to most types of train tickets, including singles, returns and Season tickets, but is not available with train tickets between two stations in the same PlusBus area.

The PlusBike icon tells you the onboard cycle carriage and reservation rules for taking bikes on the trains relevant to your journey and includes details on bike facilities at the railway stations en route, such as the type of storage, its location, and number of cycle parking spaces.

Sail And Rail To Ireland

Both Stena Line and Irish Ferries allow you to book both the rail and ferry legs of your journey in one go, known as a Sail & Rail ticket, at a price that is much lower than if you booked the two legs separately (fares come at a fixed price which don’t increase with peak travel periods or depending on how far in advance you book). This combined train and ferry ticket can be for journeys from anywhere in Great Britain to anywhere in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland via UK ferry ports of Holyhead and Fishguard. Book the Sail & Rail tickets on the website of Transport for Wales (tfwrail.wales/ticket-types/sailrail) – there’s a 50% discount for children aged five to 15, while those aged up to four travel free. You can also buy Sail & Rail tickets online at trainsplit.com and avantiwestcoast.co.uk.

European Train Ticket Alerts

Train tickets are often released only a few months ahead of travel. If you want to snap up the cheapest tickets when they become available, Thetrainline.com and RailEurope. com both offer free email alert services, letting you know as soon as bookings open for your chosen route. Sign up for the ‘ticket alert’ at thetrainline.com/ticketalert; while on RailEurope.com search for the route and dates that you want on its booking page and, if booking hasn’t opened yet, you will get a message recommending that you set up a ‘booking alert’.

This is an edited extract from The Green Traveller (£18.99 Pavilion Books) by Richard Hammond