Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what environmental assessments and estimates were made on the effect of carbon emissions as part of the decision to allow rail fares to increase by 3.8 per cent. in March 2022.

The Department considers many factors when assessing the impact of a fares change, notably the impacts on passengers and taxpayers. Whilst no specific assessment of environmental impacts was made, as the Department chose to hold fares to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) from last summer rather than the follow the previous year’s RPI + 1 per cent, it is likely that this decision would make rail travel more attractive than it would otherwise have been, which would have a positive effect on the environment by reducing carbon emissions from other transport modes.