Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential for (a) Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil and (b) other biofuels to decarbonise railways pending full electrification.

In Decarbonising Transport: a Better, Greener Britain, the government committed to deliver a net zero rail network by 2050. Our ambition is to remove all diesel-only trains (passenger and freight) from the network by 2040. As we decarbonise the railway, we are working with GBRTT to bring forward costed options for government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability. This will involve working closely with operators and manufacturers on assessing and deploying the most appropriate traction technology. This includes electrification, alternate fuels (such as Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil), as well as hydrogen, battery or bi-mode and hybrid traction technology.

The Low Carbon Fuel Strategy, which the Department intends to publish later this year, will set out possible scenarios for the deployment of low carbon fuels across all transport sectors out to 2050.