Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to (a) support the development of battery-electrified trains and (b) ensure that those trains are made using British critical minerals.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is supporting the development of battery-electric trains as they are an integral part of the plan to decarbonise the railway network by 2050. This includes innovative projects such as the Greenford fast-charge battery train trial, a recent battery trial on a TransPennine Express unit, as well as the full deployment of multi-mode trains with batteries by Transport for Wales and Merseyrail. We are progressing work on a whole systems approach to decarbonisation, ensuring both track and train are considered.
The Government published a Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, which sets out its approach for ensuring the secure supply of critical minerals for key technologies including batteries.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to increase the maximum sentence for (a) failing to stop at and (b) report a road accident, known as hit and run accidents, from six months to ten years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
This Government takes road safety seriously, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. We are currently considering policy options, including possible changes to motoring offences.