Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 11 March (HL1918), what assessment they have made of the case for urgently decarbonising the transport network; and what discussions they plan to have with the Rail Safety and Standards Board about prioritising that Board's work on the risks involved in expanding third rail electrification in order to complete such work by the end of 2020.

The Government believes that we must accelerate rail decarbonisation to respond to the challenge of climate change. We will consider exploring some decarbonisation schemes as priorities as we develop our strategy.

Officials regularly discuss with the Rail Safety and Standards Board its research to reduce the railway’s environmental impact, including work on third rail electrification. The Government will consider the findings of that work as they emerge during 2020.