Green Travel
Anthony Lambert - author of Switzerland Without a Car
Swiss-image
The debate over the science behind climate change is thankfully over; only a few contrarians, oil-funded scientists and 'flat-earthers' cling to the cosy notion that it's nothing to do with us. Or that even if it is, science will find a way to fix the problem without us having to change the way we live. So the question remains, what are we going to do to mitigate the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate change? The deliberations in Copenhagen in December will determine whether our national-level responses are adequate.
But as the 10:10 campaign has set out to demonstrate, it is up to all of us to make a difference, and small actions by millions produce significant benefits. Choosing a responsible way to travel is one easy way to reduce our carbon footprint, and one that brings wider benefits for the country and personal gains in health. Cycling and walking improve fitness, and using public transport brings you into contact with others, often leading to conversations that help the visitor to gain insights they would never have had in the cocoon of a car.
A love of Switzerland, and particularly walking in the mountains, encouraged me to write Bradt's Switzerland Without a Car to try to encourage readers to use the world's best public transport system to explore the country. The Swiss, of course, take it for granted – I recently had to convince a Swiss Federal Railways executive that the Swiss Travel System had no rivals. He argued that Japanese Shinkansen punctuality figures were better, which is true, but he eventually conceded the point that no country has such a well-run, perfectly integrated transport network as Switzerland. For visitors from abroad, it is a revelation how well buses and trams feed into the rail network, how bikes can be hired at stations and how easy it is to use the system, with excellent information and a range of passes for every kind of visitor.
My book is organised by the almost invariably scenic rail routes, postbus routes and lake steamers (some, genuine paddlesteamers) with details of bike hire and walking routes from stations. Introductory chapters describe and give advice on using the Swiss Travel System. Otherwise, it's a conventional guide book. My hope is to encourage many to choose the green option and discover that it's a much more pleasureable and relaxing way to travel.
Anthony Lambert is a journalist and author with a keen interest in rail travel - he has in fact travelled on over 40 countries' railway systems. He is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, works regularly for the National Trust and frequently writes for the travel pages of The Independent, as well as such magazines as Motoring & Leisure, Orient-Express Magazine and Wanderlust.