I made my first home on a train. Underneath a large, empty luggage rack, at six years old. I curled myself away, hung up my coat to cover the space, so no one could see inside but me, and set out my belongings neatly. There was a pile of books – a library. An orange and some biscuits – the kitchen. And my backpack, a pillow, and, therefore, a bed. As we rumbled towards London St Pancras, my parents duly started pacing the carriageways to find me and I emerged, sad but sated, ready for the big city.
We all know there’s something special about train journeys, and for me, they will always be tied to my youthful imagination of personal time and space. It’s the British in us, but on a seated train, where there’s no expectation to talk to anyone, you can find peace and solitude in the untouchable space of your seat. You can strategise, evilly, and cover your coveted second seat with a bag to luxuriate in double the space. Pretend like you’re on the Hogwarts Express and grab a cheeky rocky road and piping coffee from the trolley lady. But nowadays, as the Nakates, Hirsis and Thunbergs of the world take up the mantle of progress, there’s an added benefit: environmental footprint.
Tagskyrt is the Swedish word for “trainbragging” – the smugness you impart when you choose to travel by train rather than the road or the skies. You have good reason to feel that way – trains can emit less than half the amount of CO2 into the air than planes or a single person driving in a car, so even on a local level there can be a marked difference between taking a train journey versus gunning down the motorway in your dad’s diesel-guzzling banger.
When it comes to travel, my eco-consciousness awakening has been a while coming, but was predicated by natural inclinations. I have always struggled with flying – it doesn’t seem right to be in the actual air in a metal box when gravity exists, and the most I’ve done when it comes to driving is use a provisional to get into club nights. But the thrill of travel is intoxicating, or, at the very least, often necessary for work. Trains give me the best of both worlds and travelling by them is an easy thing to feel good about, and an easy thing to encourage others to do, especially if you live in well-connected areas like the south-east. As I messaged my friend the other day, who was considering taking a domestic flight: “Trains are chill and you gotta think about the environment, pal.”
Some of my favourite train journeys are local. I love the stretch from Peterborough to London. The city creeps up on you, flowing from my city-girl perception of countryside to tower blocks emblazoned with graffiti from artists such as Stik, whose murals of stick-people somehow convey to me both the openness and impenetrableness of the city all rolled up into one. The journey from New Cross Gate to London Bridge is another one that grounds me in my love of the city – what’s a more intoxicating view than the imposing, great, grey, twinkling skyline.
For a totally different reason, I love the journeys from my home in south-east London to Hertfordshire and Kent, because, even though I often travel at night and there’s nothing to see, I’m able to sit back and take the time to reflect on the fact that I’m travelling towards family – to a place where I know I’ll be welcomed with love and open arms. To St Albans, where my nan lives. Or, to Orpington, where I once shared a kiss on a platform with the love of my life at midnight after we got on a train going in the wrong direction.
“Britain invented the railways” is an old adage that we all might have heard, but it’s true – we invented the first public railways in 1825, exported them, and now it’s high time for us to reclaim them in this new age of eco-awareness. In our difficult history, marred by colonialism and strife, it sometimes feels like there are few things to feel proud of. Our railways though, despite their occasional challenges, are still a thing of beauty, of peace, and perhaps most importantly, have a light imprint on the Earth.
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