Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to achieve the target of the rail network being net-zero by 2050 as part of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
To meet our net zero commitment, and our ambition to remove diesel trains by 2040, as set out in the Decarbonising Transport: a Better, Cleaner Britain, we will continue to electrify more of the network, building on the almost 700 track miles of electrification that we have delivered in England and Wales in the last three years, and deploy hydrogen and battery trains on some lines, where they make operational and economic sense.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how he plans to remove all diesel-only trains on the rail network by 2040 as part of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
To meet our net zero commitment, and our ambition to remove diesel trains by 2040, as set out in the Decarbonising Transport: a Better, Cleaner Britain, we will continue to electrify more of the network, building on the almost 700 track miles of electrification that we have delivered in England and Wales in the last three years, and deploy hydrogen and battery trains on some lines, where they make operational and economic sense.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the use of cleaner fuels on the rail network during the implementation of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan.
Answered by Baroness Maclean of Redditch
Departmental ministers and officials regularly meet with train manufacturers and other stakeholders to discuss rail decarbonisation technologies, including cleaner fuels and biofuels.
We are committed to supporting the development of cleaner technologies in rail, like battery and hydrogen trains, and we recognise the potential value of sustainably sourced biofuels as a transitional technology, where their use is technically feasible and makes commercial and environmental sense.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to bring in (a) battery powered, (b) hydrogen powered and (c) overhead electric-line powered trains on East West Rail.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
EWR will operate an interim fleet of trains for the first services in Connection Stage 1 – Oxford to Milton Keynes - and Connection Stage 2 – Oxford to Bedford – to ensure the benefits of EWR for those passengers can be realised as soon as possible.
For its long-term fleet, which will be introduced at a later date, EWR Co is currently developing its procurement strategy. The procurement strategy will outline how long the new fleet will be in operation for. To develop this strategy, EWR Co is taking into consideration the feedback received on what future customers of EWR want from their on-train experience at the recently held non-statutory consultation. This will ensure value for money for the taxpayer and an efficient and effective operation for EWR customers.
EWR will be a new, environmentally sustainable way to travel across the region. EWR Co is exploring innovative ways to become a net-zero carbon railway, consistent with the Government’s legally binding target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the entire UK economy by 2050.
As Government is considering the case for the electrification of EWR, EWR Co is undertaking a review by looking at options including full electrification along the whole route as well as various options for partial electrification using battery / electric hybrid rolling stock, and other sustainable rolling stock options.
The results of this review and steps to be taken will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 8 June 2020 to Question 49664, how the rolling stock companies agreed to support the industry and the country during the covid-19 pandemic; and what assessment he has made of the effect on the public of that support.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the rolling stock companies have supported the rail industry in a number of ways. They have continued and in some cases accelerated maintenance work for the supply chain. They have ensured prompt payment and in some cases have made advance payments to support the supply chain. They have continued to provide very substantial investment to refurbish fleets, invest in decarbonisation and innovation to benefit both passengers and the wider public. We have seen continued development of low-carbon initiatives such as Porterbrook’s hydrogen-powered HYDROFlex train, Eversholt’s SWIFT express freight train as well as interior refurbishment of the West Coast Pendolino fleet by Angel Trains.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by the Railway Industry Association entitled Why rail electrification?, published on 22 April 2021; whether he has plans to utilise hydrogen powered trains in addition to electric traction in the future; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
I welcome this report and agree that further electrification will be required to decarbonise the railway to support our target of reaching Net Zero emissions across the entire UK economy by 2050. As part of the decarbonisation process, the government also supports the deployment of hydrogen and battery trains on some lines where they make operational and economic sense. The department’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan will set out the government’s ambition for the scale and pace for rail decarbonisation between now and 2050.
Asked by: Imran Ahmad Khan (Independent - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the proportion of freight trains powered by renewable energy sources.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
While rail freight is already a comparatively green mode of moving goods, we have been working alongside the rail industry to make it even greener.
In the last three years (for which data is available), we have completed almost 700 miles of electrification in England and Wales. As we deliver more electrification schemes in an efficient and affordable way, this will increase the opportunity for freight operating companies to use more electric and bi-mode locomotives, therefore using more renewable energy from the grid and from Network Rail’s renewable power purchase agreements.
Since 2019, the Department has contributed just under £750,000 to fund two First of a Kind projects that focus on the potential use of renewable new traction technologies (battery and hydrogen) to power freight trains, and over £2.5m to fund a project to enable renewable power sources to feed-in directly into the rail network. The Department also funds an ongoing programme of research, led by the Rail Safety and Standards Board, that includes reducing carbon and air quality emissions from rail freight.
We will be setting out further plans to support the decarbonisation of rail freight, and reduce the use of diesel, in the forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP).
Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has for the further electrification of railway lines; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
1110 miles of track in Great Britain have been electrified for passenger traffic from 2010 up to March 2020, compared to 63 miles between 1997 and 2010. Further electrification of the network will play an important role in our plans to decarbonise the railway, alongside the deployment of battery and hydrogen trains on some lines. The Department’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan will set out the government’s ambition for the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation between now and 2050.
Asked by: Earl of Dundee (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of biomethane to assist hydrogen transport; what plans they have to utilise biomethane gas from farms and cities to fuel (1) trains, (2) trams, and (3) buses, until the cost of green hydrogen can be reduced to a competitive level; what estimate they have made of the impact of any such plans on the level of (a) the income experienced by farmers, and (b) soil quality and nutrition; and what assessment they have made of the use of biomethane as an energy source for cities.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Hydrogen is already powering vehicles in use on UK roads, including buses. We will set out its important role across all forms of transport, including trams and trains, in our ambitious Transport Decarbonisation Plan, due to be published this spring. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation helps promote a market for a broad range of low carbon fuels, and renewable hydrogen and biomethane are already eligible for support through it for transport. We have made no specific assessment of the use of biomethane as a bridge to future hydrogen transport applications or on the impacts of that on farmers, soil quality or nutrition. The BEIS-led Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS), will open to applicants in Autumn 2021 for four years and will provide tariff support for biomethane injection into the gas grid as a potential energy source for cities.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to include hydrogen trains in the Transport decarbonisation plan; and what his timeframe is for ordering the first hydrogen train fleet.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The Government is developing an ambitious Transport Decarbonisation Plan to achieve net zero emissions across all modes of transport. The Network Rail-led Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) makes recommendations about whether hydrogen or battery trains or electrification will likely be the best way to decarbonise each part of the network. TDNS will inform the Transport Decarbonisation Plan and the procurement of rolling stock.
The Department is supporting work to understand and develop hydrogen trains, so that they can be introduced smoothly onto lines where and when they are appropriate.