Railway Network: Electrification

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the rail network was electrified in (a) 1978, (b) 1988, (c) 1998 and (d) 2008; what plans exist to electrify further sections; and on which of these sections electrification has commenced. (228028)

[holding answer 17 October 2008]: The following table provides the information requested:

	Percentage of total route kilometres open to passenger traffic that are electrified
1978	26
1988-89	31
1998-99	34
2006-07¹	37
¹ Latest year for which figures are available. Source: Transport Statistics Great Britain 2007.

The Department for Transport is working closely with the rail industry to examine the case for extending the electrified network.

Volume 481: debated on Monday 20 October 2008