Question
First, may I associate myself with the condolences expressed by the Transport Secretary and others about the terrible tragedy in Spain yesterday? There are many bottlenecks on the national rail system that are holding back rail freight growth. I welcome the Government’s announcement of the interim rail freight growth target of 40% by 2040, but without a clear and deliverable strategy, the Government risk falling behind on the expansion of rail freight, which is such an important sector for us all. When will we see a rail freight growth strategy, or will we have to wait for the overall rail enhancement strategy?
Answer
The Chair of the Transport Committee is completely right to highlight the need to increase the amount of freight that we transport by rail. That is why we have set a target of growing rail freight by 75% by 2050, and an interim target of 40% by 2040. We are not publishing a separate rail freight strategy, as I will put that target in the long-term rail strategy when it is published, and I expect Great British Railways to set out in its first business plan how it will achieve that.
Verdict: AMBER (65/100)
The reply clearly states that the rail freight target will sit within the long-term rail strategy and that no separate rail freight strategy will be published, which fully answers the question about where the target will appear. It does not say when that strategy will be published, so the timing part of the question is only partly answered. A questioner would probably need to ask again for a date, and the reply also uses 'long-term rail strategy' where the question used 'rail enhancement strategy', which appears to be the same document but is not stated outright.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| When the Government will publish a rail freight growth strategy. | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply names a concrete vehicle for the rail freight target (the long-term rail strategy, seq 5), but gives no date or timeframe for when anything will be published, so the 'when' is only partly answered. |
| Whether any rail freight growth strategy will be published separately, or whether the Government will instead wait for and include it within the overall rail enhancement strategy. | Addressed | Direct | The reply directly states that no separate rail freight strategy will be published (seq 4) and that the rail freight target will instead go into the long-term rail strategy (seq 5), which answers the 'separately or within the wider strategy' question. The reply calls it the 'long-term rail strategy' rather than the 'rail enhancement strategy', but these appear to be the same overarching document. |