Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an estimate of the value of (a) rail industry and (b) all exports in the last 12 months.

Research published by Oxford Economics in 2021 estimated that the rail industry contributed £43 billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2019, supporting 710,000 jobs.

The ONS data shows that in 2022 the UK exported £433 million rail transport services and £293 million worth of railway equipment in this year.

For the 12 months to November 2023, ONS goods data shows that the UK exported £453 million worth of railway equipment. Services data is not available for this time period.

We do not have estimates for the value of UK rail exports in 2024 or in future years. However, this Government will continue to help UK companies to export from the rail sector and our Export Strategy sets out the support we provide through our network of international trade advisers, sector specialists, UK Export Finance, and the export support service.