Loco2: The train app aiming to reduce your carbon footprint one journey at a time

The year is 2006, and Kate Andrews is planning a gap year during her final year of study at the University of Sussex. She has an inkling to travel, but is annoyed at how hard it is to find a suitable, sustainable alternative to flying.

You see, Kate - along with her brother, Jamie - has always been incredibly conscious about the pollution that airplanes emit.

Fortunately, the idea for her business was formed when she won a social innovation competition with her initial concept of the ‘answer’ to low carbon travel: trains. And thus, Loco2 was born.

Let’s start with how it all began. Launched in 2012 by Jamie and Kate, Loco2 aims to simplify the train booking process through a free-to-download app. But does it succeed? Well, I certainly think so.

Loco2 is said to be an ‘industry first’ in offering both UK and European train tickets on one platform, payable in GBP, Euro and even US dollar. You can download it for free via the App Store or Google Play.

In all honesty, it’s easily comparable to Trainline - you tell the app/website where you would like to go; if you’re going one-way or returning; the date you’re departing on etc. Railcard user? There’s an option for you to add that on too.

I downloaded the app in the hope that it would give me a cheaper price for a (now been-and-gone but successful) two-hour train journey and back. If you sign up to its mailing list, it will alert you when there are cheaper deals available at times suitable for you.

Have I hooked you yet? Anyway, Loco2 doesn’t add on booking fees to your journey, either - you can check out without any hidden charges. Oh, and PayPal lovers will also be happy to know they accept this payment as a credit/debit card alternative.

I downloaded the app in the hope that it would give me a cheaper price for a (now been-and-gone but successful) two-hour train journey and back.

If you sign up to its mailing list, it will alert you when there are cheaper deals available at times suitable for you, and it’s the only booking platform where you can set ticket sale alerts to get the best prices on journeys that you are planning to take.

One feature that sets Loco2 ahead of the other train booking apps is that there is absolutely no booking fees - it’s all part of their passion for getting more people on trains.

Like I mentioned earlier, Loco2 was born out of Kate’s sheer desire to just travel. Don’t we all just want a cheap ticket to somewhere remote and/or sunny sometimes? (You don’t have to answer that - of course we do.)

The company aims to reinforce the fact that Loco2 cares for the environment and, after all, it’s also how it got its name.

Admittedly, it probably sounds quite random to someone unfamiliar with the brand, but it actually makes sense. Kate merged ‘locomotive’ with CO2 - well, the idea of wanting to reduce it - and well, as they say, the rest is history.

But let’s be honest, climate change is a worry that we should all be facing up to - starting with our own carbon footprints. Sure, you can recycle the basics, but when it comes to travelling, isn’t it an entirely different story altogether?

I have never really given much thought to the idea of travelling on holiday via train. After all, a plane is quicker and a lot less stressful, right? It can take you to some destinations a train certainly cannot. However, those huge jets in the sky produce an awful lot of carbon dioxide.

So in order to reduce our pesky carbon prints, Loco2 hopes that - in the future - more people will be taking the train to commute and travel more so than flying… Within reason, of course (we’re not telling you to take a train to Australia anytime soon, don’t worry).

But what it does encourage is instead taking a train to places that are within a reasonable, commutable distance. Thinking of flying from Newcastle to London in half an hour? Take the train if you have the time.

What makes Loco2 really stand out is the fact that you can book trains for your European holidays, too. An interrailing trip would be a perfect way to make use of this app; you can book all of your tickets from your home and they’ll store in the app until you’re ready to use them - wherever you’re off to.

I’ve used it going to Leeds; to Edinburgh and back for the day; I’m using it to visit London soon. I’ve recently recommended it to a friend and, although she was sceptical at first, my frequent use of the app made her take the leap into Loco2’s world (Spoiler: she was happy with the service).

It’s so simple, I have even persuaded my technophobic mother to use it - and it worked! She successfully made it up to Scotland and back, so if she can go through the booking process and print off her tickets with ease, then youdefinitely can too.

A decade on from Loco2 being a supposed pipe dream, the business has gone on to win a bronze medal in the British Travel Awards ‘Best European Rail Booking Websites’ category, alongside having a Trustpilot score of 9.3 based on over 22,000 reviews.

And as of 2017, Loco2’s website is multilingual; users can navigate the site in languages including German and Italian.

You can avoid ever paying a train booking fee again by downloading the app via Google Play or the App Store, or simply head to www.loco2.com to book a train ticket (or two) and find out what the company is getting up to.