Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what volume of rail freight in tonne-kilometres was moved in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The data for November 2025 has not yet been published. The most recent available data is for Rail Period 7 (14 September 2025 to 11 October 2025) where a total of 1,258 million net tonne-kilometres of freight were moved by rail.

The net tonne-kilometres of rail freight moved each rail period is published by the Office of Rail and Road in Table 1314 which is available at:

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/usage/freight-rail-usage-and-performance/table-1314-freight-moved-by-commodity-periodic-1/.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timeline is for the establishment of Great British Railways following the passage of the Railways Bill; and if her Department will publish an implementation plan setting out milestones for the establishment of Great British Railways.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

We are aiming for Great British Railways to be established as soon as possible after the Railways Bill receives Royal Assent, which will likely be around 12 months after the Bill passes. We will be focusing on implementing it, rather than publishing plans about implementing it.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of rail journeys used fully digital tickets in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The approximate proportion of tickets fulfilled as Digital Tickets from July 2024 to November 2025 are:

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the level of net Government support to the rail sector per passenger journey in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department’s support for the 14 contracted operators and Network Rail was £8.47 per passenger journey in 2024/25. It is currently estimated that this will steadily decrease to circa £7.40 in 2028/29, primarily driven by a declining rail passenger services subsidy as passenger ridership and revenue continue to recover post COVID-19 and efficiencies and as savings are made through public ownership.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Revenue Certainty Mechanism on the cost of Sustainable Aviation Fuel compared with conventional jet fuel.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Revenue Certainty Mechanism (RCM) aims to support the development of first-of-a-kind SAF plants and pave the way for lower cost UK SAF plants.

The Government published a Cost Benefit Analysis for the SAF RCM in May 2025.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she will take to ensure Great British Railways Retail is treated as a market participant operating under the same terms and conditions as independent rail operators; and what discussions she has had with the Office of Rail and Road on this matter.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The retail industry code of practice announced in the Government's response to the Railways Bill consultation will incorporate clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) should interact with all market participants. The code of practice will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road, and GBR’s licence will require it to comply.

The government has confirmed that there will be full consultation on the production of the code of practice, thereby ensuring important input from industry, regulatory and other stakeholders. The government recognises that there will be a range of interested parties in both its original development and any ongoing updates to ensure it remains effective.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of new cars registered in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024 were zero-emission vehicles.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The information requested is given in the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/developing-faster-indicators-of-transport-activity

Data for November 2025 was published on 10 December.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of passengers who will pay more than £1,000 in Air Passenger Duty on a long-haul Premium Economy family flight by 2027.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Air Passenger Duty is levied on the airline on a per passenger basis. The charge in respect of any individual passenger does not exceed £1,000 on a long haul flight in premium economy class.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many used electric vehicles were sold in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effect of business rates increases at Gatwick, Manchester and other UK airports on passenger ticket prices and airline route planning.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is committed to enabling investment so that airports can play their full role in the growth mission.

Properties seeing large bill increases as a result of the business rates revaluation - including airports - will benefit from a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion over the next 3 years.

At Budget 2025, the government also published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment. It will explore the concerns that airports and a small number of other ratepayers have raised around the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ valuation methodology and its impacts on long-term, high value investments. The government is seeking to address issues raised ahead of the 2029 revaluation, aiming to conclude this work in sufficient time before pre-list discussion commences.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many compensation claims were submitted for train operating companies for which her Department is the operator of last resort in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publish quarterly statistics on the volume of compensation claims submitted and closed by train operating companies. Table 4410 (https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/passenger-experience/delay-compensation-claims/table-4410-delay-compensation-claims/) provides the number of delay compensation claims submitted from July 2024 to July 2025. The data for the next quarter of 2025 is due to be published in January.

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