Kevin Anderson lets the train take the carbon strain for his work trip to China to launch the new Fudan Tyndall Centre

“… it’s OUR Kilos of Carbon that’ll break the camels back”

Research in action - Tyndall’s Deputy Director tests his theories on ‘productive’ low-carbon travel with a ten-night working trip from Broadbottom (nr. Manchester) to Shanghai … and back!

‘ard graft at work left little time for packing – so after a Friday night beer to celebrate a colleague's new job, it was a late night rush to compress life’s wherewithal into 60 litres for a month away from old Blightey. Having dumped the spare laptop and waterproof, the zip finally closed as the clock tipped 2.20am with the alarm just 3 hours away.

Broadbottom – Shanghai return met its first obstacle in Broadbottom – no train! This is the UK and the Saturday timetable cuts the early morning schedule – so the journey’s carbon graph started with a blip – a taxi to Stockport to catch the 7.04 to London.

A bit shattered I was at least assured of a quiet early morning train so I could relax and catch up with a few final emails – so it was with some shock I arrived on platform 3 only to be met with a sea of light blue clad folk – hundreds of them on a wet platform before 7am on a Saturday morning. The second unforeseen glitch – Manchester City’s success in the FA cup rounds saw them in the final on the same day I was heading to Shanghai. So my anticipated “let the train take the strain” start to the jouney was substituted for raucous good hearted banter amongst half the folk of Manchester. Next stop Stoke – and a swathe of red surged onto the train till it was fit to burst. For those, like me, who wonder through life blissfully unaware of the fortunes of our imported footballers, this years FA Cup final was between Manchester City and Stoke - both conveniently (for them) located on the West Coast line to London and Wembley. Less convenient for those of us embarking on the slow train to China and less than enthusiastic about an early morning singalong of popular football songs.

So it was, with the early onset of tinnitus, I arrived on time to soak up the French ambience of St Pancras before the Eurostar whisked me off to Gare du Nord and the real thing. A brief Plat du Jour in a restaurant on a nearby side street and I was alighting the next leg of the jouney to Cologne. A few more hours of Thalys efficiency and I arrived in a stationary version of the Manchester-London Train – but with yellow instead of blue. The station was heaving with drunk Germans  football fans – all good humoured again – but lots of alcohol and loud yelling along with bursts of song – and about 20 vans-worth of police sporting the latest riot gear fashions – they also seemed good  humoured. I had a three hours before the night train to Warsaw, so rather than risk being corralled into a drinking and singing ferment, I headed out to take Leonie’s (a Tyndall-Manchester researcher) advise and visit the Cathedral just outside the station. I’m a bit of church buff and genuinely enjoy wiling away hours breathing in the incense, architecture and history embedded in these old style Tardis’s – (lots of space, rituals and beliefs travelling through time – but without the emissions) – but if nothing else (and on my short visit I didn’t spot anything else) the Cologne Cathedral is well worth stopping over for if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.

Unfortunately, the welcome dose of ethereal mood music and accompanying Karma was all to soon forgotten as I found myself bludgeoning through the remaining and even noisier throngs of homeless Germans to board the first sleeper of the trip – only 9 more to go after tonight!

As for the sleeper – triple stacked – I was sandwiched between two ample Polish lads – service engineers with an Indian company manufacturing machinery for the pharmaceutical industry – they were returning from Germany where their machines had been installed, and were off to India the following week to update their training – wherever you turn there’s a carbon lesson to be had. They were good company, speaking fine English and full of hope for a prosperous future for their country – I gathered they thought I was teetering on the brink of sanity – but they did say it was good to demonstrate what you believe in and are asking others to do - mad all the same though! 

Work Diary – officially it's a day of rest, but between verses of here-we-go, here-we-go, here we-go” and other challenging chants, I did read and make scribbled notes on a paper – and actually enjoyed it – no admin, phones or other ‘essential’ research displacement activity to contend with. And before switching my bunk light off I managed a chapter of David Ruelle’s Chance & Chaos – it was a good read fifteen years ago – and I think worth re-reading – I’ll know by Shanghai.