Branson asks Brown to cut duty on fuel to power green trains

18/10/2006

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Trains business is close to winning a concession from Gordon Brown that will launch the UK's first biofuel-powered rail service. Virgin is lobbying the Treasury for a temporary concession on duty for blended biofuel which is seven times the levy for industrial diesel fuel. The train operator has warned that it will not go ahead with a planned biofuel trial on its trains if the government does not grant an incentive for using renewable energy sources.