Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to the report of the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Task Force, entitled Final report to the Minister for Rail, published on 20 July 2019.

The Government is ensuring that the railways play their part in delivering our ambitions to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and to reduce the air pollution created by transport. The work of the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce has informed the Government and rail industry’s approach to decarbonisation over the last year.

I accept the recommendations in the taskforce’s final report. In line with those recommendations, Network Rail is developing a Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, with the Department and industry partners. The Strategy will inform Government decisions in 2020 about the scale and pace of further rail decarbonisation.

Alongside this work, the Government announced the Transport Decarbonisation Plan on 15 October last year to bring together a bold and ambitious programme of coordinated action needed to end the UK’s transport emissions by 2050. We are aiming to publish a call for engagement document in due course.