Prince Charles embarks on 'sustainable living' railway tour

The Prince of Wales embarked on a tour of Britain today to promote his sustainable living initiative, START.

Prince Charles sat on a collapsible red bike, which can be used by commuters, and tried Highland Brie from the Highland Fine Cheeses stall after arriving by car at Glasgow Central train station today.

He also donated a pair of green cord trousers to a Marks and Spencer and Oxfam stall at the station, which is also backing the START initiative.

The Prince will travel by the bio-fuel powered Royal Train as he takes his message to communities from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Manchester and London.

Before boarding the Royal train for the first leg of the national tour for his journey to Edinburgh, Prince Charles said: "What I hope to get across, to as many people as possible, is that however awful a predicament we face with climate change and the unsustainable use of the natural resources that keep us all alive, we aren't going to get anywhere by telling everyone what they need to stop doing.

"There's been quite enough of that in recent years and we all know what the reaction is.

"So this week is going to be about the things that we can all start doing for our own benefit, for the benefit of everyone who shares this planet with us and for the benefit of our children and their children too.

"The message of START is about encouraging and assisting everyone to take the first steps towards the world that we all want to live in. A clean, healthy, energy-efficient world that lives within the limits of its natural resources and that we can actually take pride in.

"So START is a simple and positive message. It doesn't lecture or hector anyone about anything, nor does it attempt to frighten you."

He also said that he was supposed to get to Edinburgh before a group of six cyclists he had met near platform 13 today and that the biodiesel powering the train was "astonishingly eco-efficient used cooking oil".

Peter Haymes, 32, who is from Carlisle and works with British Cycling, spoke to the Prince about the collapsible red bike.

After meeting the royal, he said: "He was asking me how the Brompton bike worked. It is British made. It's an invention for commuters.

"I was very surprised when he sat on the bike. I was pleased that the seat was at the right height for him."

The six people with Mr Haymes were cycling around 50 miles to Edinburgh today to help highlight the work of their companies and the campaign with START and British Cycling.

Food, accommodation and travel on the train for the week will cost £50,000 in total.

Speaking during the train's journey up to Glasgow from Carlisle today, James Hygate, chief executive of Green Fuels, said: "Since 2007 we have provided biodiesel for the royal train that comes from waste vegetable oil. It is presently the only train in the world running on 100% biodiesel."

The Prince had stayed at Dumfries House in east Ayrshire last night following an evening gala dinner.