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Railway Track: Photovoltaics

Asked by Ben Obese-JectyConservativeDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled Answered 18 July 2025UIN 66730

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Sun-Ways project in Switzerland, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using photovoltaic panels between rail tracks for electricity generation.

Answered by Michael Shanks

The Government is committed to working with industry to radically increase our existing solar capacity by 2030 through a variety of methods. Rail track solar could be a feasible solution. However, there are some current obstacles that may inhibit the deployment of this technology in all areas. We will continue to look into these issues with Network Rail to determine what is possible.

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