A shake-up of transport taxes is needed to create a 'level green playing field' that better reflects how environmentally damaging each mode of transport is.That's the proposal submitted by the Rail Delivery Group to the Government's Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge consultation. It could mean using increased taxes on air routes that are in direct competition with trains to reduce prices for longdistance rail fares. Currently, fuel for passenger aircraft is exempt from tax, whereas train operating companies have experienced a doubling in levies in the past four years on electricity used to power trains. According to official statistics. CO_2 emissions from domestic rail journeys are more than six times smaller than a domestic flight, while the aviation sector is predicted to become the largest contributor to UK emissions by 2050. RDG says that tackling this tax discrepancy would incentivise people to make greener choices when travelling either in Britain or to international destinations.
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