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Written question asked by Noah Law (Labour) on Wednesday, 26 March 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 April 2025 (named day). It was answered by Simon Lightwood (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 April 2025 on behalf of the Department for Transport.


Locomotives: Electrification

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to (a) support the development of battery-electrified trains and (b) ensure that those trains are made using British critical minerals.

Answer

The Government is supporting the development of battery-electric trains as they are an integral part of the plan to decarbonise the railway network by 2050. This includes innovative projects such as the Greenford fast-charge battery train trial, a recent battery trial on a TransPennine Express unit, as well as the full deployment of multi-mode trains with batteries by Transport for Wales and Merseyrail. We are progressing work on a whole systems approach to decarbonisation, ensuring both track and train are considered.

The Government published a Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, which sets out its approach for ensuring the secure supply of critical minerals for key technologies including batteries.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
41688
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Electrification Locomotives
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk