Arrive Magazine - March/April, 2008

All Aboard

To Transport
and Conserve

There is a lot of discussion these days about footprints. Not the kind left by a pair of muddy boots, but the type that refers to the impressions we leave on the planet with respect to land use, energy and the environment. As we approach Earth Day celebrations in April, I’d like to share with you some of the things Amtrak is doing— and has been doing for a while now—to serve as one of the forms of transportation with the lowest environmental impact.

Most Amtrak riders know that it is a convenient, comfortable and cost-efficient way to travel, but you may not be aware that by choosing Amtrak, you—on an individual and collective level—are minimizing what’s known as your “carbon footprint”—essentially, your contribution to the emission of greenhouse gases. Did you know that based on U.S. Department of Energy data, Amtrak is 17 percent more efficient than domestic airline travel and 21 percent more efficient than auto travel on a per-passenger-mile basis? In fact, when you combine modes of transportation, passenger railroads emit only . 2 percent of the transportation industry’s total greenhouse gases.

With electric train service and fuel-efficient diesel locomotives, Amtrak has long been an industry leader in environmental initiatives. In fact, we have cut diesel fuel consumption by 8 percent between 1999 and 2006.

We’ve undertaken a range of conservation programs. Some examples include our regenerative braking system on Acela Express locomotives, which sends about 8 percent of the energy produced when the brakes are applied back into Amtrak’s overhead electrification system for use by other trains. We’ve also reduced diesel engine idling with the installation of an automatic engine

start/stop modification and more efficient use of ground power at our facilities.

Amtrak is a charter member of the Chicago Climate Exchange, the world’s first legally binding integrated greenhouse gas reduction and trading system. When Amtrak joined the growing organization in 2003, we committed to cutting diesel emissions by 6 percent by 2010. This represents the largest percentage reduction commitment in the United States on a voluntary basis, and it’s the first made by a transportation company.

In addition to choosing Amtrak for your travel needs, there are other ways you can contribute to the conservation effort. Via our partnership with Carbonfund.org, each time you buy a ticket on Amtrak.com you can offset the carbon footprint generated by your travel by making a contribution to Carbonfund.org. Your contribution funds your choice of offset type, such as tree planting.

You may not have considered your carbon footprint when you made your reservation for your trip. Maybe you simply chose Amtrak for the myriad reasons millions of Americans prefer to travel by rail—but now you know that making that choice has other benefits, too.

We’re glad that you’ve chosen Amtrak and thank you for your patronage. We’ll continue to explore the ways we can make you more comfortable and do our part to preserve the natural beauty you may notice outside your window.