A new rail service in the UK has helped forge a massive shift from air travel to rail in its first year of operating, offering encouraging signs for the future of green transport.
On Tuesday Lumo celebrated a year since it first started running its London to Edinburgh line, joining Avanti West Coast and London North Eastern Railway on the route.
During that time the passenger shift from planes to train has increased rapidly, and now more people are going by track rather than air between the English and Scottish capitals for the first time in many years.
The switch is marked, with rail boasting 57% of the passenger share between April and August this year, compared to 35% in 2019.
Lumo's bosses have argued the Newcastle based company is behind the move, as the London-Glasgow line has only seen a 2% swing - 28% rail to 30% rail - in the same time periods.
By dropping its average fare between London and Edinburgh down to £37 each way, and keeping the off-peak on the day price to £72 rather than the £82 average with other operators, Lumo may have found the perfect price point to attract punters.
Another part of the draw is Lumo's onboard menu, which is 50% plant based, and a free wifi and digital streaming service.
The company argues it has helped save thousands of tonnes of Co2 from being released into the atmosphere by coaxing people off polluting planes onto its 100% electric fleet.
"Green credentials are a big part of it," Martijn Gilbert, Lumo's new managing director, told The Mirror.
"We challenge domestic flying for a really great value offer and it's a really green, paperless digital business."
The firm also has been likened to budget airline Ryanair due to its low prices and luggage limit policy.
Martijn said the company had had a £35million turnover this year, but would not be drawn on how much profit it had made.
When asked where else in the country rail companies could take on the dominance of domestic aviation, he said "where there is capacity on rail network and good rail links."
"It's really important to challenge the psyche of domestic flying," Martijn continued.
"Someone told me recently they had found a ten pound ticket from Edinburgh to London, but it will cost you that to get to the airport and at the other end, and each of those legs is an hour, and you have to check in. You can be productive for the entirety of the journey on a train."
Finding sustainable ways to make train travel cheaper and more attractive than going by air is a big part of cutting green house gas emissions, as planes produce so many more of them per mile than almost any other form of transport.
A recent report by the Intergenerational Foundation found that banning flights on routes with fast rail connections could cut the UK’s emissions from domestic aviation by a third.
Other countries have taken steps towards this goal.
France recently decided to ban short-haul domestic flights where an alternative rail route under 2.5 hours is available, while Germany has doubled taxes on all short-haul airline tickets in an attempt to encourage passengers to opt for travelling by rail.
