It is surely the prospect of spending an entire day getting to a holiday destination rather than a few hours that has made flying the choice of travel for millions - to the clear detriment of the environment.

But a new scheme is being launched to encourage people to turn their backs on planes in favour of trains, for the sake of reducing their impact on climate change, by tackling that problem head on.

A growing number of firms have pledged to give their employees extra days off a year to go on holiday by train rather than flying there.

Already more than a dozen employers have signed up to the scheme, pledging to give their staff up to an extra four days off a year provided they use the time to get to reach their hotel, resort or AirBnb by less environmentally damaging means than air travel.

The scheme is coordinated by the Climate Perks organisation, which points out that a single return flight to Berlin clocks up the same amount of carbon as eight return trips by train.

Climate Perks states: “Most of the time, trains, coaches or boats take longer than a trip through the sky. Working for a Climate Perks employer means you can choose clean travel without losing out on your hard-earned leisure time.