§ Mr. Jon Owen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department takes to monitor the level of pollution produced by diesel engine trains.
§ Mr. MacleanThe Department does not monitor directly pollution produced by diesel engine trains. Diesel motors of all kinds contribute to ambient levels of smoke, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in particular, and these are monitored in many places throughout the United Kingdom. Rail transport is estimated to contribute about 1 per cent. of total United Kingdom emissions of nitrogen oxides, and negligible proportions of total emissions of other major pollutants.
DOE Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics No. 14, 1991: Tables 1.1–2, 1.7, and 1.9–10).