Analysis

Bagpipes, soccer louts and zombies: all aboard the climate train

A rail trip from London to Glasgow for COP26 had a lot more colour than just green, as our correspondent inadvertently discovers.

Hans van LeeuwenJournalist

Oct 31, 2021 – 10.52am

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Glasgow | When I booked my transport to head up to Glasgow for COP26, I just picked out the train that seemed the most convenient: the 1.30pm from London Euston on Saturday, for a breezy 4½-hour trip that would rock in just in time for dinner.

As it turned out, though, this wasn’t just any old train. The 1.30pm from Euston was part of The Climate Train: it had been picked out by Youth for Sustainable Travel, a Dutch campaign group, as an official service of “Rail to the COP”, an itinerary for young activists to travel together from as far afield as Amsterdam.

Hans van Leeuwen is The Australian Financial Review’s former Europe correspondent. He is now International Economy editor for The Telegraph UK.