Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of the rail network used by rail freight operators that will need to be electrified by 2040 to enable the removal of diesel-only trains from the network.

In the Transport Decarbonisation Plan we committed to delivering a net zero rail network by 2050, with sustained carbon reductions along the way, and stated our ambition to remove all diesel-only trains (passenger and freight) from the network by 2040.

In the year 2022/23, 11% of rail freight in the UK was hauled by an electric powered locomotive with the remainder hauled by diesel.

We are working with the Great British Railways Transition Team to bring forward costed options for decarbonising the rail network, including for the remainder of freight hauled by diesel, for Government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability.