Rail transport is good! I have added some data from Friends of the Earth's "
Fact sheet: Why travelling by rail is better for the environment" (2007) to
"Public Transport is Good. The Advantages of Pooled Transport." by Vexen Crabtree (2007). Some factoids that are supported by this document:
1. Train emissions of CO
2 per passenger/Km are, on average, approximately half that of travel by car.
2. Reduced use of fuel. "In 1999 UK road transport consumed 80 times as much energy as rail, while the distance travelled by road passengers and freight was only 15 times as much."
3. You are 9 times more likely to die travelling by car than by rail.
4. Carrying freight by rail results in an 80% cut in CO2 emissions per Kilogram carried compared to road haulage and can replace 50 lorry movements.
The full page contains a fuller discussion and a more complete review of the advantages of public transport over private cars.