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1354853

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Trains: Diesel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to require the operators of diesel powered long distance high speed passenger trains to use renewable diesel instead of fossil diesel to support air quality for passengers in stations, railway staff and local communities close to the railway.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	48228
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>The Government is determined to reduce the impact of poor air quality on railway users, workers, and neighbours. We know that air pollution in stations is an area of particular concern. To better understand it the Department has funded air quality monitoring studies at three large enclosed stations; Birmingham New Street, London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverly. This research has highlighted that enclosed stations can be high risk areas for poor air quality, due to idling diesel engines and poor air flow and ventilation.</p><p>Following these findings, and given the importance of the issue, the Department is now funding a new £4.5 million air quality monitoring network.</p><p> </p><p>This will be rolled out over the next three years, with air quality monitors installed in around 100 stations across England and Wales. Once established, the network will help the rail industry identify priority locations where air quality improvement measures are required. Responsible organisations will be required to produce air quality improvement plans with the aim that levels of air pollutants meet the targets we will set for PM2.5, PM10 and NO2.</p><p> </p><p>The government has committed to a net zero railway by 2050, and set out an ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the rail network by 2040, which will reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. To achieve immediate carbon savings and air quality improvements, some rail operators are exploring the use of biofuels and sustainable alternative fuels. We recognise the potential value of sustainably sourced biofuels as a transitional technology, where their use is technically feasible and makes commercial and environmental sense. As part of Decarbonising transport: a better, greener Britain, the government has set out plans to work with stakeholders to develop a longer-term strategy on how the uptake and use of low-carbon fuels, including biodiesel and renewable hydrogen, could support decarbonisation across transport modes to 2050. The strategy is to be published in 2022.</p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris grouped question UIN 48226 48229 question first answered 20/09/2021 14:38:58 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1354854

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Trains: Diesel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the impact of idling diesel powered passenger trains on railway station passengers; and if he will take steps to help increase the use of renewable diesel for trains.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	48229
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/09/2021 answer text <p>The Government is determined to reduce the impact of poor air quality on railway users, workers, and neighbours. We know that air pollution in stations is an area of particular concern. To better understand it the Department has funded air quality monitoring studies at three large enclosed stations; Birmingham New Street, London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverly. This research has highlighted that enclosed stations can be high risk areas for poor air quality, due to idling diesel engines and poor air flow and ventilation.</p><p>Following these findings, and given the importance of the issue, the Department is now funding a new £4.5 million air quality monitoring network.</p><p> </p><p>This will be rolled out over the next three years, with air quality monitors installed in around 100 stations across England and Wales. Once established, the network will help the rail industry identify priority locations where air quality improvement measures are required. Responsible organisations will be required to produce air quality improvement plans with the aim that levels of air pollutants meet the targets we will set for PM2.5, PM10 and NO2.</p><p> </p><p>The government has committed to a net zero railway by 2050, and set out an ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the rail network by 2040, which will reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. To achieve immediate carbon savings and air quality improvements, some rail operators are exploring the use of biofuels and sustainable alternative fuels. We recognise the potential value of sustainably sourced biofuels as a transitional technology, where their use is technically feasible and makes commercial and environmental sense. As part of Decarbonising transport: a better, greener Britain, the government has set out plans to work with stakeholders to develop a longer-term strategy on how the uptake and use of low-carbon fuels, including biodiesel and renewable hydrogen, could support decarbonisation across transport modes to 2050. The strategy is to be published in 2022.</p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris grouped question UIN 48226 48228 question first answered 20/09/2021 14:38:58 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1354855

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Trains: Diesel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with representatives of railway and station staff on the effect of idling diesel powered passenger trains on (a) health of those staff and (b) air quality; and if he will make it his policy to support the use of renewable diesel for trains.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	48230
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>In our Transport Decarbonisation Plan, we have set out our ambition to deliver a net zero rail network by 2050. Rail decarbonisation will significantly improve air quality on the railway in the longer-term, however the Government is determined to reduce the impact of poor air quality on railway users, workers, and neighbours now. We know that air pollution in stations is an area of particular concern. To better understand it the Department has funded air quality monitoring studies at three large enclosed stations; Birmingham New Street, London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. This research has highlighted that enclosed stations can be high risk areas for poor air quality, due to idling diesel engines and poor air flow and ventilation.</p><p>Following these findings, and given the importance of the issue, the Department is now funding a new £4.5 million air quality monitoring network. This will be rolled out over the next three years, with air quality monitors installed in around 100 stations across England and Wales. Once established, the network will help the rail industry identify priority locations where air quality improvement measures are required. Responsible organisations will be required to produce air quality improvement plans with the aim that levels of air pollutants meet the targets we will set for PM2.5, PM10 and NO2.</p><p>In addition, we are funding research using personal air quality monitoring equipment to assess railway staff exposure at a range of rail locations. This will help improve our understanding of occupational exposure to air pollutants.</p><p>We welcome the work that the Rail Delivery Group is doing in collaboration with industry to develop and rollout an idling limit in some places known to have air quality issues. The Government believes that, as an interim measure, idling should be reduced across the railway to quickly minimise rail’s impact on air pollution.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 21/09/2021 14:59:35 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1249662

registered interest
date	09/11/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Trains: Diesel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of accelerating the phasing out of diesel trains to help meet the UK's climate targets.
tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
tabling member printed	Catherine West
uin	113178
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to rail decarbonisation to meet our target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Network Rail’s work to develop a Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy will inform our decisions about the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation, the deployment of different decarbonisation technologies on each part of the network to replace diesel trains, and the delivery of our ambition to remove all diesel-only trains from the railway by 2040.</p> answering member constituency Daventry answering member printed Chris Heaton-Harris question first answered 12/11/2020 14:50:51 answering member 3977 label Biography information for Chris Heaton-Harris
tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West