Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic and environmental benefits of an electrified rail-freight network between (1) major ports and inland terminals, and (2) major quarries and city centre terminals, in order to reduce (a) pollution and congestion on the trunk road network, and (b) mileage by heavy lorries.

The Government is committed to reducing air pollution created by transport and more broadly, ensuring the railway plays its part in delivering our ambition of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We will continue to explore potential options, including electrification, as well as using other low emitting fuels.

The Government will develop a multi-modal freight strategy, to include a response to the National Infrastructure Commission’s report ‘Better Delivery: The Challenge for Freight’. This strategy will be developed alongside the Department’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan to cover the decarbonisation of freight across all transport modes