More than 80 percent of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) intend to increase their support for low-carbon business travel through corporate travel policies and budgets by 2024.
This is the main finding from a new survey of more than 500 decision makers in companies with fewer than 250 employees commissioned by Trainline Partner Solutions, the B2B arm of Trainline.
The survey found nine in 10 UK SMEs expect to increase travel spending this year, while 92 per cent expect to see business travel levels increase.
However, at the same time, 83 percent intend to strengthen their travel policy and/or financial support to make it easier for employees to opt for lower carbon travel modes in 2024. In particular, 48 percent plan to use rail more to help reduce it. their emissions from business trips.
The survey also found that 52 percent of respondents have already set targets to reduce their emissions from business travel – and of those SMEs that do not have such targets, two-thirds think it is likely that their company set a goal this year.
“Companies are telling us they expect to travel and spend more this year as business travel continues to recover post-Covid,” said Andrew Cruttenden, managing director of Trainline Partner Solutions. “We have seen a clear signal that sustainability considerations are a growing factor in setting travel policies and budgets, and rail is a great way to reduce carbon emissions by traveling versus flying and driving. I carriers and travel partners must ensure that they can meet this growing demand by innovating and investing in the right technology that helps make rail a simple and perfect option for business travelers.”
Most companies have reduced travel-related emissions in recent years, after the covid pandemic triggered the widespread use of videoconferencing platforms. However, business travel is expected to continue to recover this year, prompting calls for businesses and policy makers to encourage wider use of lower-emission forms of travel.
For example, the Climate Perks campaign has called on companies to offer employees extra days off if they use the rail for their holidays, while green groups have repeatedly called on companies to avoid using short-haul flights distance where rail offers a viable alternative.
However, efforts to encourage wider use of rail have been hampered by the relatively high cost of rail compared to flights, with a Greenpeace analysis last month indicate that popular rail routes across Europe during the festive period were on average 3.4 times more expensive than equivalent flights.
As such, campaigners continue to call on governments to introduce new policies and taxes to curb the availability of short-haul flights and address the price difference between rail travel and flights.
