Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of (a) longer semi-trailers and (b) freight moved by rail.

A strong resilient supply chain is essential to the government’s efforts to grow the economy. We strongly support rail freight playing a key role in that supply chain which is why we are committed to introducing a long-term rail freight growth target and encourage modal shift through the Mode Shift Revenue Support grant. But road haulage is also vital to a strong supply chain and longer semi-trailers will reduce congestion and lower emissions.