Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the efficiency of rail freight transport in Britain.

Network Rail and the predominantly privately operated rail freight sector are taking forward a range of measures to improve the efficiency of freight operations. These include new and modernised locomotives, enabling longer freight trains, deploying condition-monitoring technology on freight wagons and trialling higher-speed freight services, helping to make better use of network capacity and improve reliability.

The Government supports these efforts through its wider policy framework for rail freight. In September, we set a target to increase freight moved by rail by at least 40% in net tonne kilometres by 2040, as a milestone towards an increase of at least 75% by 2050. The Railways Bill also provides for the Secretary of State to set a rail freight growth target for Great British Railways, embedding support for rail freight growth in the future railway’s decision-making.