Special Report 18

has revealed the value to the UK of the time saved by customers taking an LNER service, and productive time enjoyed by customers on that service, is estimated to be £610 million per year. It makes business sense to travel by rail.

In 2022, it is not only new customers that we hope to serve, but also new destinations. LNER takes immense pride in being able to connect destinations from Dunbar to Edinburgh to the Scottish Highlands. Later this year, we will add another destination to our route and serve the new station at Reston.

Through innovation and investments to drive improvements to every aspect of what we do at LNER, from our new Deli, Dish, Dine catering offer to our full pre-Covid timetable from 14 February, we are continually delivering for our customers and enhancing their experience when they choose to travel with us. We are incredibly excited for 2022 as we continue to welcome customers new and existing customers back to rediscover the enjoyment of rail onboard our world-class Azuma trains.

“As we look ahead to the future, it remains a key strategy to communicate just how much better our Azuma trains are for the planet.”

Changing Edinburgh: climate and tourism in a changing world

Scotland is on the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia, but is protected from extreme weather by the Gulf Stream.

Benjamin Carey

Managing director of Carey Tourism5, a launch signatory of the Glasgow Declaration, and a former chair of Tourism Society Scotland.

Scotland is on the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia, but is protected from extreme weather by the Gulf Stream. However the melting of the Greenland icesheet is accelerating and the climate system of the North Atlantic is changing, and Siberian winters are somewhere on the horizon. Nobody can be sure when the Gulf Stream will fail, it could be a few decades or several centuries, but the meltwater is desalinating the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream is now at its weakest in two millennia. The recent winter wildfires, floods and record temperatures in North America are a harbinger of future disruption. Meanwhile, with a high level of confidence, scientists are predicting that much of Leith will be at risk from regular flooding by 2050 simply due to rising sea levels, whilst Edinburgh World Heritage has been modelling damage to the fabric of the Old and New Towns due to a combination of dryer summers and wetter winters. Edinburgh will change and there will be many opportunities for innovative adaptation and mitigation strategies for local residents and businesses alike, as we all rapidly embrace a new decarbonised world. But studies repeatedly show that levels of awareness and the necessary urgency are largely missing. Scotland was one of the first countries in the world to declare a Climate Emergency. Pursuing a “just transition” to NetZero by 2045, five years ahead of the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement1 target of 2050, the Scottish Government2 has adopted a leading position in Europe, whilst City of Edinburgh Council3 has recognised that “if Scotland as a whole is to meet its 2045 target, our cities need to make faster progress” and so is striving for Edinburgh to achieve NetZero by 2030, just eight years away!

As a species, we’ve been extracting natural resources from our planet for centuries with hardly any consideration of sustainability or justice. Understanding really started to change in the 1960s, but action is only beginning now, and it is probably too late for us to avoid the 1.5°C of global warming. Our efforts must therefore focus on limiting loss and damage and trying to achieve the best possible outcomes.