Rishi Sunak was accused of being ‘afraid of trains’ after taking another chopper to deliver a migrant speech an hour away in Dover.
The PM, criticised over his repeated use of helicopters and the huge impact they have on the environment, flew from London to the event yesterday - just 74 miles away.
The same trip on a train would have taken about 68 minutes and trains run every hour from St Pancras.
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Slamming his decision, Greenpeace UK’s Paul Morozzo, said: “It’s as if the PM is scared of trains. Why else would he be so reluctant to travel via rail?”
Mr Morozzo added: “His constant use of private jets and helicopters demonstrates his apathetic approach to climate change and exposes how out of touch he is with the real world.
“Domestic flights should be banned in the UK, as should the use of private jets.
“The mega-rich should not be allowed to continue polluting the planet just for their own convenience.
“It’s time Rishi Sunak faced his fears and started riding the rails like the rest of us.”
In response, a No10 spokesman said: “Travel plans will vary and are always decided with consideration to the best use of the Prime Minister’s time and interests of the taxpayer.”
Using a chopper allowed the PM “to deliver an update” on “progress on stopping the boats, before returning to Downing Street to carry out important Government work,” he added.
On Twitter, Dezza from Scarborough said: “Too high and mighty, to go on public transport and it’s not his money.”
Farhad Esmaeili added: “Taxpayers money is easy to spend.”
The row follows revelations that Sunak had racked up a £38,500 bill in April by flying to Tory events in Wales and Scotland.
In the meantime, a new Omnisis poll found 65% of voters believed the billionaire PM was “out-of-touch” with issues concerning them, compared to 19% who said he was in-touch.
Around 56% also believe the PM puts his own interests over the national interest compared to 25% who said he didn’t.
The poll follows a report suggesting that Sunak and his wife donated $3m to an elite private US college to buy a state-of-the art computing lab, named after the couple – in contrast to a primary school in Sunak’s constituency forced to hold repeated charity fundraisers to replace 15-year-old computers.
In his speech, Mr Sunak tried to convince critics his small boats plans off the coast of Dover were working – despite more than 7,600 people having crossed the Channel this year and the Government warning it could reach 56,000 by the end of December.
He defended plans to house asylum seekers on three barges and the need for asylum seekers to share hotel rooms.
He said: “Before I launched my plan in December, the number entering the UK illegally in small boats had more than quadrupled in two years. Some said this problem was insoluble, or just a fact of 21st century life,” he said.
“They’d lost faith in politicians to put in the hard yards to do something about it. And of course, we still have a long way to go.
“But in the five months since I launched the plan, crossings are now down 20% compared to last year.”
