Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what detailed information they have about freight train operators who have replaced electric locomotives with diesel over the past year because of the higher costs of electricity; and whether they have had meetings with any such operators to discuss the impact of these changes on His Majesty's Government’s net zero strategy.

Officials and the Rail Minister have discussed this with the freight operating companies who are closely monitoring the situation and will review when electricity prices come down. The decision about which locomotives to use for freight trains is a commercial decision for each individual freight operating company. The Government cannot intervene in such decisions but we continue to work closely to help incentivise the freight industry to meet our net zero targets.