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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
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 - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
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.
Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of trialling hydrogen trains on the Tees Valley line to help decarbonise the railway network.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government believes that there will be a role for hydrogen trains in decarbonising the railway. My Department is considering the case for running hydrogen trains in Teesside.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to reduce emissions on the rail network.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In the last three years, we have completed almost 700 single track miles of rail electrification in England and Wales, and we will continue to electrify more of the rail network in the years ahead. We are also supporting the development of new low-carbon technologies in rail, like battery and hydrogen trains, through innovation funding and research.
The Network Rail-led Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) provides advice about which decarbonising technologies (electrification, hydrogen, or battery) could best suit each part of the network. TDNS will inform the Department’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Government decisions about the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation between now and 2050.
Emissions from diesel trains can contribute to air pollution hotspots, with stations being an area of particular concern. The Government is funding a new £4.5 million air quality monitoring network, which will measure air pollution in up to 100 stations across the GB railway. Once established, the network will help to identify priority locations where air quality improvement measures are most needed.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to phase out diesel traction passenger trains in the North of England.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s ambition is to remove all diesel-only trains from the network by 2040 and replace them with low-carbon traction technologies, including electrification, hydrogen and battery trains.
The Network Rail-led Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (TDNS) provides advice about which decarbonising technologies could best suit each part of the network. TDNS will inform the Department’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Government decisions about the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation between now and 2050.
Asked by: Philip Dunne (Conservative - Ludlow)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the role hydrogen passenger vehicles can play in supporting the growth of the Welsh hydrogen economy.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The UK Government is committed to exploring all options for low carbon hydrogen across freight, buses, trains, maritime, and aviation to ensure that the UK can lead the world in its deployment and use across the economy.
The Department for Transport is working closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a new overarching hydrogen strategy setting out how to deliver all the benefits of a hydrogen economy for the UK, including for transport.
Whilst we expect hydrogen to play a key role in decarbonising transport, it is likely to be most effective in the areas ‘that batteries cannot reach’, where energy density requirements or duty cycles and refuelling times make it the most suitable low carbon energy source.
At this point, progressing the hydrogen economy as a whole in the UK means rapidly expanding our expertise, innovation and infrastructure deployments to create a critical mass and overcome barriers to production and use.
I and my officials continue to work closely with colleagues across government to raise awareness of the interest in Wales in the role of low-carbon hydrogen in the transition to net-zero, including in the transport sector.