An open letter to Taylor Swift: make this your train “Era”

Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is making its way to Europe (finally). And while we certainly would never dream of “coming for” Taylor – keyboards down, Swifties – we did want to highlight how trains, yes trains, could help make the country princess of pop even more iconic. 

Earlier this year, Taylor’s romantic jet setting to the Super Bowl made fans swoon and environmentalists cringe. Why? Air travel is, on average, 50 times more detrimental to the environment than train travel, and that is for just commercial airlines. Imagine the effect of private plane travel. (You don’t have to imagine – we get into the dirty, literally, details below.)

So as Taylor hits the road, err, the skies, this summer to perform in front of thousands of cheering Swifties from Paris to Stockholm to Edinburgh and beyond, we invite her to consider, instead, to go by rail. It’s not as far-fetched as you may think! Here’s why.

A premium experience with your feet on the ground

Most billionaires, like Ms. Swift, don’t travel in coach, but you don’t have to be at 40,000 feet to have a luxe travel experience. Many European trains offer elevated classes of service with ridiculously spacious seats, tableside service, gourmet foods, champagne – or even hot tea for a certain young popstar protecting her voice. Trains deliver all the amenities that the rich and famous have come to know and love on private jets, just without all that pesky pollution.   

Change your point of view – literally

We can only imagine that Taylor does not have many opportunities to actually see the cities and regions she performs in. Aboard trains, she can witness the landscapes evolve between countries and can take in some of the world’s most iconic cities and landmarks right from the comfort of her seat. Plus, aboard trains there is no turbulence, so she can stretch her legs or even practice some of that tricky choreo. 

If Taylor decides to take on this fun challenge, she wouldn’t be the first pop star, let alone celebrity, who chose to travel Europe by train this year. Dua Lipa recently travelled from Paris to London on the high-speed Eurostar train. Taylor, if you are reading this, know that you’re in good company! 

Data to the rescue

We all sort of know that train travel is better for the environment than flying – but how much better is it? Well, to prove our point, and because Taylor is a busy woman, we calculated the CO2 emissions of flying versus train travel along all of the stops on the European leg of the Eras tour. The goal is to see just how much our travel decisions affect the environment. 

Why we use CO2 an indicator of our impact

We often hear “carbon footprint” or “CO2 emissions” thrown around as a good indicator of how our lifestyle and our choices affect the environment. But why? Well, carbon dioxide is a simple way to measure the detrimental greenhouse gases that we create in what we buy, what we wear, what we consume and how we travel. These greenhouse gases significantly contribute to global warming, making our carbon footprint a solid indicator that can be applied across industries to conceptualise our effect on the planet.

The methods to our madness

To estimate the impact of travelling by train versus plane versus private plane, we compiled the stops along Taylor’s tour and estimated the carbon emissions that each mode of transportation would cause using a handy CO2 emission calculator from the French government. 

Because private planes are so exclusive, this same tool does not provide data on their effect, but it is generally accepted that private planes’ carbon emissions are 10 to 14 times the amount as a commercial flight. To be conservative in our calculations, we used the following estimate: private planes emit 10x more CO2 emissions than a commercial flight. 

Keep this in mind as you read along

First and foremost, know that these numbers are estimates and will not represent the exact reality of each journey as calculating accurate CO2 consumption is nearly impossible due to the complexity of the reality of life. Think of a flight, for example. CO2 estimation tools use standard values for calculations, but as we all know all too well, the average travel scenario has a number of possible situations and outcomes (like layovers, the route taken, the type of airplane used, etc.) that can affect the accuracy of the numbers. 

But, for now, carbon footprint calculators still stand out as the best option we have for estimating and understanding our impact on the environment. And just like with reducing our footprint, effort, not perfection, counts most!

No ‘Bad Blood’ with the ‘Fearless’ Taylor Swift

And just before we get to the numbers, it's important to clarify that our aim here isn't to criticize Taylor Swift. She contributes to the world in ways many of us can only aspire to, like donating millions of dollars to fans, food banks, pet rescue foundations and even supporting the cities she has visited on her Eras tour. Instead, our focus is on demonstrating the power of our travel choices.

The numbers have it

Follow along Taylor Swift’s Eras tour as she hops from one beautiful European country to another. See the environmental impact that each mode of travel has. 

Paris, France 👉 Stockholm, Sweden: 

🚆High-speed train: 6.18 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 290 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2900* kg CO2

*(commerical emissions times 10)

Stockholm, Sweden 👉 Lisbon, Portugal

🚆High-speed train: 12.9kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 560 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 5600 kg CO2

Lisbon, Portugal 👉 Madrid, Spain

🚆High-speed train: 1.72 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 130 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 1300 kg CO2

Madrid, Spain 👉 Lyon, France

🚆High-speed train: 3.8 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 236 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2360 kg CO2

Lyon, France 👉 Edinburgh, United Kingdom

🚆High-speed train: 4.36 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 237 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2370 kg CO2

Edinburgh, United Kingdom 👉 Liverpool, United Kingdom

🚆High-speed train: 1.04 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 52* kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 520* kg CO2

*Agir lacks flight CO2 data for this journey. We estimated this number as follows: Commercial planes emit 50 times more CO2 than trains, and private planes emit 10 times more CO2 than commercial ones.

Liverpool, United Kingdom 👉 Cardiff, United Kingdom

🚆High-speed train: 0.93 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 46.5* kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 465* kg CO2

*Agir lacks flight CO2 data for this journey. We estimated this number as follows: Commercial planes emit 50 times more CO2 than trains, and private planes emit 10 times more CO2 than commercial ones.

Cardiff, United Kingdom 👉 London, United Kingdom

🚆High-speed train: 0.93 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 46.5* kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 465* kg CO2

*Agir lacks flight CO2 data for this journey. We estimated this number as follows: Commercial planes emit 50 times more CO2 than trains, and private planes emit 10 times more CO2 than commercial ones.

London, United Kingdom 👉 Dublin, Ireland

🚆High-speed train: 1.59 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 79.5* kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 795* kg CO2

*Agir lacks flight CO2 data for this journey. We estimated this number as follows: Commercial planes emit 50 times more CO2 than trains, and private planes emit 10 times more CO2 than commercial ones.

Dublin, Ireland 👉 Amsterdam, Netherlands

🚆High-speed train: 3.39 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 195 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 1950 kg CO2

Amsterdam, Netherlands 👉 Zürich, Switzerland

🚆High-speed train: 2.47 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 159 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 1590 kg CO2

Zürich, Switzerland 👉 Milan, Italy

🚆High-speed train: 0.82 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 41 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 410 kg CO2

*Agir lacks flight CO2 data for this journey. We estimated this number as follows: Commercial planes emit 50 times more CO2 than trains, and private planes emit 10 times more CO2 than commercial ones.

Milan, Italy 👉 Gelsenkirchen, Germany

🚆High-speed train: 2.7 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 178 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 1780 kg CO2

Gelsenkirchen, Germany 👉 Hamburg, Germany

🚆High-speed train: 4.43 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 233 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2330 kg CO2

Hamburg, Germany 👉 Munich, Germany

🚆High-speed train: 2.38 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 158 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 1580 kg CO2

Munich, Germany 👉 Warsaw, Poland

🚆High-speed train: 3.59 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 210 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2100 kg CO2

Warsaw, Poland 👉 Vienna, Austria

🚆High-speed train: 5.64 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 261 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2610 kg CO2

Vienna, Austria 👉 London, United Kingdom

🚆High-speed train: 2.9 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 197 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 1970 kg CO2

The (not-so) grand total

🚆High-speed train: 58.25 kg of CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 33,095 kg of CO2

There you have it folks. Taylor’s flights across Europe on her private planes will emit 568 times more carbon dioxide than if she were to choose to travel by train. Let’s put that into perspective. The CO2 emitted solely from the flights of the European leg of her tour is equivalent to the yearly output of around 6 French citizens, including transportation, food, electricity – everything they do and use in a year! 

How about a road trip instead?

While a road trip across Europe sounds like good inspiration for Taylor’s next hit album, pump the brakes before you go any further with that thinking. Cars are not your get-out-of-environmental-jail-free card. Non-electric cars emit more CO2 than planes! Let’s take another look at Taylor’s first journey for context.

Paris, France 👉 Stockholm, Sweden: 

🚆High-speed train: 6.18 kg CO2

✈️ Plane: 290 kg CO2

🚗 Car: 407 kg CO2

🥂✈️ Private plane: 2900 kg CO2

So, again, the numbers have it. Train travel reigns supreme.

Let’s all have our train ‘Era’

Taylor Swift’s epic European tour is happening – how we all get there is up to us! When possible, choose to go by train or public transportation. Not only will it be better for the environment, it is also often quicker, cheaper, avoids parking and allows you to have a cocktail or two at the show. 

The Rail Europe team is dedicated to making our share of small changes from the office beyond. None of us are perfect, but we do strive to be cognizant of the power our decisions have. While it may not seem like our actions have a big effect, when we come together and dedicate ourselves to lowering our total carbon footprint, small choices add up to big results.

Booking your sustainable travel with Rail Europe

Rail Europe is the go-to destination for millions of travellers booking train tickets and popular passes like Eurail, Interrail and the Swiss Travel Pass across Europe each year. Use our website to quickly compare fares and even book multi-destination journeys in one, easy go. Our mission is to make train travel accessible, convenient and enjoyable for travellers from around the globe. 

Taylor, there’s a train ticket with a ‘Blank Space’ for your name

Sure, convincing Taylor to travel by train may be a bit of a pipe dream (and, in total transparency, may not be the most efficient way for her to travel for some of the journeys), but we are taking this Earth Day as an opportunity to highlight how significant an impact even a small change can have. Even if she chose to go by train for just one stop, she could save 2 tons of CO2! That's equivalent to the amount of CO2 generated from the electricity consumption of a household for almost 500 days. So Taylor, are you up for it? It’s an environmental 'Love Story,' Taylor, just say yes! 

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