corporate responsibility report - Virgin Trains

Virgin Management (51% shareholder in Virgin Trains)
“Virgin Trains provide a low-carbon method of transport that allows its customers to visit some
of the most exciting cities in the UK. The extension to operate the West Coast Mainline until
2017 gives Virgin Trains a great opportunity to provide an innovative and customer focused
service operating fast and sustainable trains. We support the targets to make Business as a
Force for Good, because that’s what we are all about.”
Virgin Unite
stakeholder
comment
“Travelling by train is a low-carbon choice, and Virgin Trains make it easier for everyone
to do that. Virgin Unite salutes Virgin Trains for achieving its 2012 goals to reduce its
environmental footprint.
Virgin Trains has greatly improved energy efficiency, reduced waste and ensured catering
and other suppliers live up to Virgin’s high environmental standards. But why stop there Virgin
Trains has set ambitious targets for the next four years.
They will divert 100% of its waste from landfill and reduce energy consumption by 2.5%
each year until 2017.”
Stagecoach Group (49% shareholder in Virgin Trains)
“Growth and sustainability are at the heart of our strategy and our values. It’s right for
our business, our customers, our people and our planet. Fairness, respect and a strong
commitment to equal opportunities are central to our values and how we work.
Our customers come first – and our focus is on new ideas and making things happen.
We also believe in helping our people develop their skills and rewarding them for
their performance.
Every day, we help 3 million people lead more sustainable lives and we are working together
to become even more efficient and cut our business impact on the environment. Stagecoach
Group set itself a set of five-year targets in 2008-09 to help drive improvement. Overall, the
Group was seeking a 3% reduction in fleet transport emissions per vehicle mile and an 8%
absolute reduction in buildings emissions, with specific environmental targets for each of
our businesses.
The Group achieved its targets 12 months ahead of schedule. Compared to the size of its
global operations, Stagecoach Group has cut the carbon impact of its business in the UK
and North America by more than 20% in the past four years.
To maintain the momentum of the Group’s programme, work is now underway to develop
a new five-year strategy. This will include benchmarking our performance against other
companies, identifying further cost-effective energy-saving opportunities, continuing
investment to support our drive to become an even greener business, and setting new
22 23