Winners announced in the Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel

Bristol cycling charity and Belgian public transport get prize

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Bristol-based cycling charity, Sustrans, and Belgian public transport provider, De Lijn, have beaten off stiff competition from over 150 sustainable travel projects in the UK, France and Belgium to win the 2013 Eurostar Ashden Award for Sustainable Travel.

The winners were selected against two other finalists from the UK for their successful and innovative sustainable travel projects and they will now share £30,000 in prize money, which they can invest into expanding the reach of their schemes.

Sustrans was chosen as a winner for their five-year Connect2 programme, which extended the National Cycle Network into the heart of communities across the UK. Through the Connect2 programme Sustrans created 84 new cycling schemes in towns and cities nationwide, bringing over four million people to within a mile of a safer, greener transport route. The Connect2 schemes overcame many of the major barriers to developing local cycling networks by providing bridges across roads, rivers and rail lines, which enabled direct and unbroken cycle networks to become a reality.

The new routes linking schools, hospitals and town centres to existing cycling routes focused on short essential journeys, which are often taken by car. Early results show that the Connect2 programme has more than trebled the number of cyclists on some routes, which is estimated to save over 70,000 tonnes CO2 emissions annually.

De Lijn, the public transport provider for the Flanders region of Belgium was selected as winner for its project ‘Meettram’, which transformed the heating and ventilation of its Gent-based fleet of 41 electric trams. Using sophisticated monitoring systems the tram operator identified that more than half of the energy consumed by a tram on cold winter days was a result of keeping passengers warm. To help reduce this energy usage the company modified its tramcars and installed simple energy management technologies to cut down on energy used for heating. CO2 sensors were then used to monitor air quality in the tram to ensure that fresh air is drawn in and heated only when necessary.

The modifications resulted in a 20% reduction in tram energy usage, which will save around 5,000 Euros per tram annually and will lead to a payback period of less than 11 months. Following its success in Gent the same technology will be fitted to 84 trams in Antwerp over the coming months as well as on all new trams and electric buses in Flanders.

Nicolas Petrovic, Chief Executive of Eurostar said; "Entries this year were of an exceptionally high calibre however, Sustrans and De Lijn stood out to the judges for their innovative approaches and the results they delivered. Through the Connect2 programme, Sustrans has helped change the perception of cycling in the UK and De Lijn’s lateral thinking to create a low-energy heating system has made public transport even more efficient. We cannot underestimate these projects and their role in helping to reduce the environmental impact of travel. We hope that by celebrating their achievements we will inspire more people to consider the environment when making their own travel choices."

Sarah Butler-Sloss, Ashden Founder Director, commented; "Increasing the use of sustainable forms of travel is worth celebrating.  Sustainable travel is affordable to all, helps reduce congestion and pollution while often improving health and wellbeing. We congratulate Sustrans for the huge piece of work it has just completed to extend the National Cycle Network into the heart of our communities and hence dramatically increasing the number of cycling journeys, and De Lijn for its pioneering work in making buses and trams a super-efficient mode of transport."

Valere Tjolle

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