Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential cost savings that could be achieved from introducing a rolling programme of rail electrification compared with a start-stop approach; and if he will make it his policy to implement such a rolling programme.

Network Rail’s ongoing work to develop a Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) will inform Government decisions about how further electrification of the network should be carried out. The final version of TDNS will inform the Department’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan, due to be published at the end of this year.

Electrification will play a significant role in our programme to decarbonise the railway and will deliver other benefits for railway users and neighbours.