EuroPython 2025 is in Prague. You should definitely come by train if you can! Here’s how.
The goal
Why would we do this? Well to reduce our carbon footprint of course! The main carbon emissions related to conferences are from transportation, specifically flights from attendees who aren’t local. We can reduce this by encouraging people to use lower-footprint modes of transport, like trains.
Who this is for
A lot of people! For a conference in Prague, right in the middle of Europe everyone who’s in the green areas on this isochrone map centered on Prague can reach the city within a day by train:
Vienna, Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, Bratislava are in there. Large swaths of Poland and Germany. Outside this map, avoiding flights is definitely still possible – with overnight trains! Check out the European Sleeper, which has services to Prague from Brussels and Amsterdam, or NightJet, or PolRail. This makes Prague easily reachable by train from Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, and more!
It’s a much longer journey than flying, and occasionally more expensive too. But also much lower-carbon, more relaxing. And more adventurous!
How the carbon footprint compares
Here’s the results of my calculations, comparing the footprint of flights vs. train routes starting in European cities that allow travel to Prague within this extended “night train one-day trip”:
| Starting from | Flight (kgCO2e) | Train + ferry (kgCO2e) |
|---|---|---|
| London | 94 | 26 (-72%) |
| Amsterdam | 83 | 14 (-82%) |
| Brussels | 83 | 24 (-71%) |
| Paris | 116 | 25 (-78%) |
On average that’s about 76% lower carbon footprints! Numbers will vary a bit for actual journeys but the math here is pretty solid.
Note: train travel figures come from Eurostar sustainability figures, and those of European Sleeper, and Datawrapper for Berlin - Prague. Flight figures come from Google Flights, cross-referenced with Green Events Tool.
If you want the details, here’s the spreadsheet: Travel emissions to Prague - EuroPython 2025.
The journey
For travel within that 8h isochrone map, you’ll have no problem putting it together with Trainline or Omio or the local train companies! For night trains, check out the Man in Seat 61 on the European Sleeper.
Here’s a good graphic describing the European Sleeper routes, which is relevant for people in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and the UK:
If we all did this
If you spend some time projecting those emissions reductions as if everyone attending from those places took the train instead of the plane, you arrive at:
- Emissions from UK attendees going from 57 to 10 tons of CO2
- Netherlands travel emissions going from 34 to 5 tons
- France (Paris) from 14 tons to 3 tons
- Belgium (Brussels) from 6 to 1 tons
All in all, if everyone within this isochrone “day trip” map made the trip via train, it would take the conference’s total travel footprint from about 450 tons of CO2, to 300 tons.
Do it!
The EuroPython 2025 schedule is looking epic already, give it a go with train travel!