Recommendation 21

The Department told us that electrifying the rail network is a key part of decarbonising and achieving net zero on the railway and that to ensure success, a steady long-term plan for electrification is needed. However, the Department acknowledged that its approach to electrification in recent years has reflected a “feast-and-famine” attitude.53 Data published by Network Rail shows a substantial range in annual track electrification undertaken since 1970, ranging from less than 10 track kilometres to almost 600 track kilometres, interspersed with years where no electrification took place.54 We asked whether the Department planned to rectify this through developing a long-term electrification plan, and it told us that high-level ambitions for rail would be set out in its planned Transport Decarbonisation Plan but it was unlikely that this Plan would contain a detailed long- term strategy for rail.55 44 Q 37; Transport Committee, Oral evidence: Williams-Shapps plan for rail, HC 230, 26 May 2021 45 Transport Committee, Oral evidence: Williams–plan for rail, HC 230, May 2021 46 Qq 29, 38, 49 47 Q 51 48 Q 49 49 Q 31 50 Q 32 51 Network Rail, Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy – Interim Programme Business Case, July 2020, p131 52 Q 33 53 Qq 52, 53 54 C&AG’s report, p29 55 Qq 52–55 14 Overview of the English rail system