Super Routes have saved our customers £48m in the past year

Based on trainline data between October 2022 and October 2023.

There are 1,424 routes which are cheaper, faster and greener by rail. This accounts for 2.77% of all routes where there is enough data to analyse (routes that have been purchased at least 100 times in the past year). The £48m is based on routes which are both cheaper and faster on average.

Our calculations: for the 1,424 routes we looked at all the transactions in the past year (on single passenger one-way journeys) and compared the cost and duration by train, vs what it would have been by average petrol car. Adding together these collective savings (including instances where it was more expensive or longer in duration) totals £48m.

7,380 UK train routes are cheaper than driving

Methodology for rail: For cost, used the median price over the past year of a single one-way journey, for one adult (with no Railcard or discount applied) travelling between two destinations.

Methodology for car: For cost, based on the petrol cost per mile (for the UK, 16p/m as of 'From 1 Sep 2023 to 30 Nov 2023), calculated using the average UK engine size of 1,650CC. Included variable costs related to the wear and tear on the vehicle on a per-km basis. Calculated as A divided by B (details of A and B set out below), enabling us to account for the length of journey when calculating associated costs.

A = the average annual cost per year of depreciation in value of the vehicle (£1,104) * 18% (% of new car sales of 2021), repairs and servicing of the vehicle (£210), and motoring fines (£4).

B = The average distance of the journey in question, distance is based on the average car route from Google Distance Matrix API. Parking fees were included on a per-trip basis and added on additionally. Average cost of searching for parking per year (£733) divided by average number of trips per year (380) = £1.92 parking fees per trip.

Additional notes on cost of driving:

• ULEZ or congestion charges have not been included
• Toll charges in the UK have not been included

7,255 UK train routes are faster than driving

Methodology for rail: Used the median time for all train trips between the two destinations. Adding 20 minutes to each journey to account for getting to/from the station based on UK Government findings (p. 12; Fig 2.7, 2018).

Methodology for car: Used the Google Distance Matrix API to determine average driving duration, per their guidance - defined as "based on road network and average time-independent traffic conditions. Results for a given request may vary over time due to changes in the road network, updated average traffic conditions and the distributed nature of the service." Data was captured September 2022 - October 2022. If the journey is greater than 2 hours we allowed for 15 minutes rest and refuel for every subsequent 2 hours of driving (excluding the first two hours of the journey), based on safety guidance and realistic habits. For each journey we added 7 minutes to account for finding a parking space.

Taking the train is 67% less polluting than driving a petrol car

Calculations are based on CO2 / passenger km: comparing an average petrol car, using statistics and conversion factors published in the government's greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors published 7 June 2023 and revised 28 June 2023.

Dirty clothes for a month

14.78kg equals 1.5 months of not using the washing machine. Calculations are based on:

Washing machine emissions = average loads and use of washing machines derived to be 208 washes a year - source.

Emissions from an average load of laundry derived as 0.6kg of CO2 based on - source.

Statistics and conversion factors published in the governments greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors published 2 June 2021 and revised in January 2022.

A year of CO2 absorbing

A mangrove tree absorbs 12.32kg CO2 over a 12 month period. Data based on onHand calculations.

First, calculate the ratio of CO2 to carbon, based on the atomic weights of each molecule, (3.67). Multiply this ratio by the amount of carbon per hectare of mangrove forest (84), to give the amount of CO2 absorbed per hectare of mangrove forest, (308). Divide this by the number of trees planted in a hectare of mangrove forest (1,000), which comes to 0.3. With an average tree grow life of 25 years, a hectare of mature mangrove forest absorbs 840 metric tonnes. Therefore, one mangrove tree removes 308kg (0.3 tonnes) of CO2 from the atmosphere over its growth life, which is 12.3kg per year.