LNER
  1. Home / 
  2. LNER newsroom / 
  3. More Trains, More Seats, Less Carbon

More Trains, More Seats, Less Carbon

30/07/2026

More Trains, More Seats, Less Carbon

LNER has seen its carbon emissions fall by nine per cent over the past year, while carrying more customers, showing that greener rail travel can keep pace with growing demand.

Over 25 million journeys were made across the LNER route between London King’s Cross and the Scottish Highlands. December 2025 also saw more than 10,000 additional services a year and 60,000 extra seats per week added to the East Coast Main Line timetable.

Data shows that even with the increased services, carbon emissions fell due to ninety-six per cent of miles completed by LNER trains using electric overhead lines. Emissions have also reduced as work continues at stations, offices and other areas of the business. This is helped in part by the installation of heat pumps and solar panels along the LNER route, alongside wider decarbonisation of the UK’s electricity grid.

The figures are another positive step towards the business' goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. This target is five years ahead of the national pledge, helping to make sure that rail remains one of the most sustainable ways to travel, and one of several commitments made by LNER as a responsible business.

LNER has released the figures as new independent research* commissioned by Rail Delivery Group (RDG) challenges the long-held belief that flying is the obvious choice for long-distance domestic travel in Great Britain. The research found that rail, as well as being significantly greener (producing 85 per cent less CO₂ per customer), was often cheaper (an average saving of £147 per journey) and helped enable customers to be more productive (rail customers gained an average of three hours more productive time per journey).

Stuart Thomas, Chair of the LNER Responsible Business Steering Group, said:

At LNER, we take great pride in the progress we're making to reduce our environmental impact and help keep rail as one of the more sustainable ways to travel. Our teams work incredibly hard to make this possible, and it's particularly pleasing that even though we are operating around 10,000 services a year in our new timetable, we've continued to reduce our carbon footprint. It's evidence that we can deliver more journeys for our customers while staying firmly focused on our journey to net zero.

*Full data and the report can be found here http://www.raildeliverygroup.com/trainvsplane