Climate Perks teams up with SilverRail: the retail engine for global rail with a green agenda
Founded in 2009, SilverRail delivers the retail engine for the rail sector. With offices in London, Boston, Stockholm and Brisbane, their global team develops software to help rail operators and travel agencies transform the way they serve customers and run their businesses.
From ultra-efficient trip planning to seamless booking solutions, futuristic payment gateways, and digital ticketing tech, SilverRail is on a mission to make rail easy. Every year, they handle over a billion online rail searches, distribute tickets for more than 35 providers, and process north of 30 million bookings.
Given SilverRail’s affinity with trains and their steadfast belief that rail holds many of the answers to decarbonising the transport sector, their partnership with Climate Perks seemed like a natural step. After enrolling as a founding member in February 2020, SilverRail’s team has enjoyed the perks of receiving extra days off work for holidays that don't involve flying.
“Climate Perks is a fantastic initiative that our team loves. Providing incentives for SilverRailers to take the train rather than the plane aligns with our mission to change the way people move by making rail easy” said Victoria Bacon, Global Culture and Talent Manager.
Recently, SilverRail’s Technical Product Manager, Sarah Disborough, opted for a ‘staycation’ instead of jetting overseas to explore the sunny skies and seaside air of Devon. After boarding a South Western Railway train from her hometown in Hampshire, she journeyed through the beautiful countryside of Somerset before hopping aboard the Great Western Railway in Exeter to reach the charming seaside town of Paignton.
Sarah shared the following reflections of her experience:
“While I’ve always enjoyed the freedom and sense of adventure that comes with throwing your bags in the boot and hitting the open road, opting for rail over road opens my eyes to an entirely new perspective of the English countryside.
There’s something very relaxing about sitting on a train, staring out of the window, and watching the world go by as you sip on a warm cup of tea. Forget traffic jams or roadworks — taking the train offers a rare opportunity to switch off, unwind and revel in the beauty of nature’s playground.”
What’s next?
SilverRail is keen to maintain public support for government policies that promise to decarbonise the transport sector. Specifically, the rail tech company advocates the use of rail as an alternative to short-haul flights if train routes can get passengers from A to B under a certain time.
With a number of EU countries announcing loose plans to phase out certain domestic flight routes in favour of greener rail alternatives, SilverRail has been busy behind the scenes to develop Train Over Plane the interactive map that consolidates government policies and calculates their associated carbon savings if properly implemented.
In the final stage of SilverRail’s three-stage Train Over Plane project, they estimate that a hypothetical EU-wide policy that bans all domestic and cross-border flights if they can be completed by train in under 4 hours would result in 243 million extra rail passengers every year.
In terms of CO2 savings, that means 32 million US homes could be lit for a year using the equivalent electricity output and carbon emissions of a coal-fired power station.
Want to see it for yourself? Explore Train Over Plane below.