Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to bring forward plans for hydrogen trains.

The Government supports using hydrogen powered trains on the railway to help deliver our target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Department is working with Network Rail and the rail industry to determine which parts of the network will be best suited to electrification, and which to hydrogen as well as battery. This work will support the Department’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan, to be published at the end of this year.

The Government is supporting development of hydrogen technology through innovation funding and research, including work on safety and wider issues that will have to be considered to allow the smooth entry into service on the network of hydrogen trains.