Department for Transport

There are no plans to make it a requirement for cyclists to wear high visibility clothing when cycling. However, cyclists should ensure that they can be clearly seen by other road users, both for their own safety and for that of others.

This is in line with Rule 59 of The Highway Code which recommends that people who cycle should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing to help other road users to see them in daylight and poor light, with reflective clothing and/or accessories in the dark.

Through the HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme the Department for Transport and industry partners are projected to deliver up to £35.7m of joint investment to enhance truck stops across England. This investment is in addition to joint investment by National Highways and industry of up to a further £30 million, aimed at improving lorry parking facilities along the strategic road network.

The scheme is supporting operators across 30 counties in England to improve driver facilities such as security measures, toilets, showers, refreshment facilities and increasing lorry parking spaces.

Ten of the 14 Department for Transport contracted operators now offer delay repay schemes that provide automated, one-click delay repay, and we are also developing plans to make it even easier and more convenient to claim Delay Repay, including through the upcoming Great British Railways website and app.

Network Rail is responsible for the safe operation of level crossings across the rail network. The safety measures it puts in place are informed by risk assessments which include, where relevant, available information on barrier down-time. Network Rail is overseen in this by the independent rail safety regulator, the Office of Rail and Road, which requires duty holders to ensure that the safety mitigations they put in place are reasonably practicable and do not expose passengers, the public or workforce to risk at level crossings.

The Department for Transport does not intend to publish supplementary guidance on the interpretation of this paragraph. The concepts of technical feasibility and economic reasonableness are generally well established, and encompass costs not being disproportionate to benefits. Technical guidance on flood risk assessment is published from time to time by the Environment Agency.

The move to Great British Railways will enable passengers to receive a more consistent offer across the network, and we are already taking steps to overhaul the complex fares system and make it easier and simpler for passengers to trust they are buying the right ticket and getting the best fare for their journey.

Through public ownership London North Eastern Railway (LNER), TransPennine Express and Northern have expanded the availability of advance fares, making journeys that cross between operators cheaper and simpler. In addition, passengers travelling between Berwick and London can access the same core range of fares whether travelling on a direct service or by changing at Newcastle or York, including using TransPennine Express and then LNER on a single ticket. The only exceptions are specific LNER promotions (mainly the family ticket) and the LNER only First Class single.

Further, the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement ensures that tickets valid for all train operators on the East Coast Mainline, including open access operators, will remain available for passengers.

The average rate of cancellations on SWR has increased from 3.5 per cent just before entering public ownership to 3.8 per cent in the most recent period.

SWR inherited significant traincrew shortages from the previous private operator, which has contributed to higher levels of cancellations, alongside training drivers to drive the new Arterio train fleet. Under public ownership, driver recruitment has been accelerated, with SWR now training up to 12 new drivers per period to reduce the risk of traincrew‑related cancellations.

Under private ownership, South Western Railway’s (SWR’s) new Arterio fleet were due to be delivered between 2019-2021. The trains were delayed under the previous operator due to issues initially caused by manufacturing and software issues and then by issues including driver training and platform infrastructure readiness.

The publicly owned SWR is now finally introducing the new trains to offer increased capacity and comfort to passengers. SWR now have 38 Arterios in service in comparison to the 7 Arterios pre-public ownership. The average rate of cancellations has increased slightly which is in line with regular variation during the introduction of major fleet upgrades. Technical issues affecting train reliability are expected to improve over time as teething issues are resolved. Overall, operators currently in public ownership remain more reliable on average than those in private ownership.

The Leeds Station Sustainable Travel Gateway is a scheme within the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s (WYCA’s) City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS). I am pleased that WYCA is using its £830 million CRSTS allocation to invest in local transport priorities, and we will continue supporting improvements to local transport, providing WYCA with an additional £2.1 billion Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlement for 2027–32.

I agree that timely delivery is important so that passengers at Leeds Station benefit from the improvements as soon as possible. CRSTS and TCR are designed to give Mayoral Combined Authorities the flexibility to plan and deliver long‑term transport programmes. It is therefore for WYCA, working with Leeds City Council, to set timelines, manage funding, and deliver the Leeds Station Gateway scheme.

Safety at level crossings on the mainline railway is the statutory responsibility of Network Rail, which monitors and records performance, safety incidents and disruption to help inform mitigation measures. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR), as the independent safety regulator, also collects, scrutinises and publishes data on level crossing incidents and enforcement activity.

My Department does not hold a separate dataset on level crossing performance. We rely on Network Rail’s operational data and the ORR’s published statistics, which together provide a comprehensive picture of safety and disruption at level crossings.

There is no requirement for airports or airport car park providers to provide details of drop-off charges to the Department. We regularly engage with airports on surface access strategies and drop-off charges form part of these wider discussions. Information about individual airports' car parking and drop-off charges is available on their respective public websites.

Clause 3 of the Railway’s Bill sets out the statutory functions of GBR – what we expect it to do, and Clause 18 its general duties – what we expect it to consider when it is delivering on its functions. Taken together, the functions and duties already set out GBR’s fundamental purpose.

Further, the Railways Bill requires the Secretary of State for Transport to issue the Long-Term Rail Strategy (LTRS), which is the first strategy of its kind. It will set out strategic objectives for the railway over a 30-year period.

As explained in response to Question 89632, the reduction in the rail passenger services subsidy over the Spending Review period will be primarily driven by passenger ridership and revenue continuing to recover post COVID-19 and efficiencies and savings being made through public ownership. Net Government support per passenger journey is a relevant metric when considering the affordability and acceptability of proposed business plans, and when monitoring performance against those plans.

The Department and Maritime and Coastguard Agency is currently evaluating the judgment of the court of appeal and is carefully considering next steps to agree the future operational model for the Coastguard Rescue Service. This includes extensive consultation with all members of the Coastguard Rescue Service and other interested parties to determine the status and future funding model of HM Coastguard, in line with the determination.

The welfare and safety of all Coastguard Rescue Officers remain our priority, and the MCA will continue to support and work with all members of the Coastguard Rescue Service recognising the impact on individuals while assessing any potential liabilities and impacts of the judgement.

The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy sets the strategic direction to reduce all domestic maritime emissions, which includes all emissions at berth, and therefore it is important that these emissions are brought into the scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The key policies of the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, including the expansion of the UK ETS to cover maritime, alongside the investment of a further £448 million in maritime decarbonisation, will both drive investment and encourage the development of alternative fuels and shore power, increasing their availability. An analytical annex was published alongside the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, which sets out the evidence on emissions reductions across the sector.

Addressing international emissions from shipping is critical and it is important action is taken globally through the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Government firmly supported adoption of a global market-based measure, the IMO Net-Zero Framework, last autumn and is disappointed the decision has been postponed. We continue to work with other IMO Member States to secure adoption.

The Government also wants to ensure decarbonisation continues here in the UK and has proposed to expand the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to emissions from international voyages from 2028. If the IMO Net-Zero Framework is adopted, the Government will review the scope of the UK ETS to assess the effectiveness and fairness of the system for operators.

The table below sets out the number of employees recruited from January 2024 and the change to net employee headcount per quarter for DFT Operator Limited (DFTO). The increases in headcount are as a result of the progressive public ownership programme managed by DFTO. The increase in staff costs are being offset by the savings in fees that would otherwise be payable to the former private sector owners.

Under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 local highway authorities themselves are responsible for maintaining their network and for the delivery of maintenance works. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. Local authorities are accountable to the public for these decisions, as they are democratically elected bodies.

I understand the distress of owners who lose beloved pets and it is a great source of worry and uncertainty when they are lost.

There are no plans to amend section 170 of the Road Traffic Act to make it mandatory for drivers to report road collisions involving cats.

Under section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a driver is required to stop and report a collision involving specified animals including horses, cattle, asses, mules, sheep, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals. This requirement arises from their status as working animals rather than as domestic pets.

Although there is no obligation to report all animal deaths on roads, drivers should, if possible, make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals, such as cats, and advise them of the situation.

Having a law making it a requirement to report road collisions involving cats would be very difficult to enforce and it is not clear what difference it would make to the behaviour of drivers, who are aware that they have run over a cat and do not report it.

His Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) was transferred from the Health and Safety Executive to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in 2006 to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of railway safety regulation. Housing HMRI within ORR allows safety oversight to sit alongside the wider regulatory and economic functions for the rail industry, supporting a more integrated and streamlined approach to enforcing railway safety legislation.

The Government considers the current framework to be effective. As such, no assessment has been made of returning HMRI to the Health and Safety Executive, and there are no plans to do so.

The Department’s reported road collision statistics do not identify the cause of collisions. However, reporting police officers can assign up to 6 road safety factors which they believe may have contributed to the collision occurring.

The number of collisions, involving at least one seriously injured casualty, which were assigned road safety factor “poor or defective road surface or deposits on road” between 2015 and 2024 are shown in the table.

Network Rail considers available information on barrier down time as part of the risk assessments it routinely carries out for level crossings with barriers. The Office of Rail and Road, as the independent rail safety regulator for Great Britain, is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Network Rail’s management of its level crossings, including the risk assessments it undertakes, to ensure their continued safe operation.

Published data and statistics on road collisions involving injury are based on data reported to the Department by police forces via the STATS19 system, which includes details of factors contributing to collisions as recorded by the attending officer based on their judgement at the time of the collision.

Up to 2023, these contributory factors included ‘vision affected by dazzling headlights’, but following a review of STATS19, in the new specification in place from the start of 2024, a wider category ‘distraction to driver or rider from inside or outside the vehicle’ has been introduced. This is part of a wider change to rationalise the contributory factors into fewer ‘road safety factors’ which aims to make the data easier for officers to report consistently.

Statistics based on both the previous system of contributory factors and the new road safety factors are published on the gov.uk website as soon as they are available. The latest published figures relate to 2024, with 2025 data scheduled for publication in September 2026.

The Department has commissioned ground-breaking research into headlamp glare, and the Department’s road safety strategy includes a commitment to undertake further research aimed at identifying what vehicle design factors may be responsible for increased headlamp glare.

The Government produces annual figures relating to the amount of delay repay compensation that is paid out by train operating companies including Avanti West Coast. The data for 2024-25 has been collected and will be published in due course. The data for 2025-26 will be collected at the end of the financial year and subsequently published.

In addition to data published by the Department, Avanti West Coast publish data by rail period via its website which may be found on Avanti’s website: https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/help-and-support/delay-repay.

The Department for Transport's support for the 14 contracted operators and Network Rail was £8.47 per journey in 2024/25. It is currently estimated that this will steadily decrease to circa £7.40 per journey in 2028/29.

The Department is currently running a public Call for Evidence in support of the regulatory framework for automated vehicles. Responses to this Call for Evidence will inform a public consultation on the proposed regulations later in the year. The Department encourages those with views or evidence on frameworks such as TechSafe to respond to the Call for Evidence.

The Government intends to introduce the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme in Spring 2026 to regulate self-driving taxi-and private-hire-like and bus-like services.

Self-driving vehicles intended for use within a commercial APS fleet will need to undergo an assessment, by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), to demonstrate that they can safely drive themselves at all times.

The initial roll-out of automated services is expected to be more small-scale, and we anticipate that automated services can complement human-driven services.

I have asked Network Rail to write to you on this matter.

The proposed redevelopment of Liverpool Street station could enable substantial private investment in one of the busiest stations in the UK.

The viability appraisal has been submitted as part of the planning application and the determining authority will review this as part of its planning report.

Section 39 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 (“AV Act”) sets out the Secretary of State’s duty to identify and investigate incidents involving automated vehicles which have potential regulatory consequences. Chapter 2 of the continuing Call for Evidence, “Developing the Automated Vehicles Regulatory Framework”, seeks views on the most appropriate methods of detection and enforcement of relevant incidents, including traffic infractions.

In addition, guidance specifically relating to forthcoming pilots of automated vehicles, prior to the introduction of the full AV Act, is currently being drafted in conjunction with first responders.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 implements the recommendations of the 4-year review of regulation for automated vehicles carried out jointly by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission (the Law Commissions). It is intended to set the legal framework for the safe deployment of self-driving vehicles in Great Britain. Part 2 of the Act specifically relates to liability for vehicle use in a range of operational circumstances.

In addition, the continuing Call for Evidence “Developing the Automated Vehicles Regulatory Framework” asks a number of questions relating to the potential sanctions which may be available in response to traffic infractions involving Automated Vehicles.

Data related to incidents from automated vehicle trials with a safety driver would be captured under standard incident report that the Department for Transport regularly publishes. Companies wishing to apply to operate commercial pilots will have to comply with mandated reporting requirements. These reports will initially be submitted to the Department. The Department is considering approaches around the publication of this information.

Government intends to introduce the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme in Spring 2026 to provide a clear legal route to deploying passenger services, such as taxi-, private hire- and bus-like services, with no human driver, providing certainty for operators to enter the GB market. Both the service and the technology will be assessed before an APS permit is granted and the vehicle is listed as self-driving. These assessments will be undertaken by agencies of the department, on behalf of the Secretary of State.

Whereas the drivers of normal road vehicles require driving licences, onto which penalty points may be endorsed if they commit relevant offences, this is not the case with operators of automated vehicles.

As set out in the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, a range of civil and criminal sanctions will be available to the in-use regulatory scheme to ensure that operators are held accountable for the behaviour of their vehicles, and for any failures to comply with regulatory requirements. Views are being sought on these sanctions as part of the continuing Call for Evidence, “Developing the Automated Vehicles Regulatory Framework”.

The Government is consulting on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences, as part of the recently published Road Safety Strategy.

As part of this, the Government is consulting on the general principle of lowering drink drive limit in England and Wales, which has remained unchanged since 1967 and is currently the highest in Europe.

Current evidence does not suggest a widespread or sustained adverse impact on the hospitality sector overall.

The Government will consider potential impacts on rural pubs and communities as part of its analysis of consultation responses.

The Government will conduct an impact assessment following consultation responses and an evidence‑led options analysis, and will publish it in line with usual practice where required.

The consultation is seeking views on a range of measures to reduce drink-driving, including options such as alcohol ignition interlocks (“alcolocks”) for offenders and powers to suspend licences for suspected drink or drug drivers.

The department has conducted extensive research and engagement with stakeholders and members of the public to inform the strategy. We have heard directly from motorcyclists and motorcycle representative groups, including the Motorcycle Action Group, through our Call for Ideas which closed with 6,340 responses and an 11-stop Regional Roadshow across England.

The insights gathered through our engagement activities have been analysed and have directly informed the strategy. The strategy will seek to address the main barriers people face in accessing good transport that were identified through our engagement.

Officials also met bilaterally with the Motorcycle Action Group on 29 August 2025 to respond to a range of matters of concern to motorcyclists which included an update on the development of the strategy. An update was also provided at a meeting of the officials-led Motorcycle Strategic Focus Group on 15 September 2025, chaired by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.

As outlined in the Road Safety Strategy, the Government will be reviewing and updating its guidance, including Circular 1/007 ‘The use of speed and red-light cameras for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing’. The update is under development and will be informed by research and evidence.

As set out in Question 105894, the Office for Rail and Road do not set funding constraints as these are determined via the overall funding settlement.

The retail industry code of practice announced in the Government's response to the Railways Bill consultation will incorporate clear requirements for how Great British Railways (GBR) should interact with all market participants. The code of practice will be owned and managed by the Office of Rail and Road. GBR’s licence will require it to comply, with the Office of Rail and Road able to demand corrective action if it considers that GBR has not done so.

Data on road injury collisions in Great Britain is reported to the Department by police forces using a data collection system known as STATS19.

STATS19 does not record near misses or identify whether drivers involved in collisions have vision below the legal standard.

Police officers attending collisions can assign a range of factors that in their judgement may have contributed to the collision occurring, including ‘Driver or rider had uncorrected or defective eyesight’. The latest figures are published as part of the Department’s road casualty statistics available from the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/reported-road-accidents-vehicles-and-casualties-tables-for-great-britain#factors-contributing-to-collisions-and-casualties-ras07.

I expect the final text to be laid in March 2026.

Both Department for Transport and Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency officials have worked with officials from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) while developing the proposed changes to eyesight testing for older drivers, and we will continue to engage with the DHSC as our policies develop further.

The Department for Transport fully supports the NHS’s recommendation that adults should have their eyes tested every two years.

All drivers, regardless of age, have a legal responsibility to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if they develop a medical condition that may affect their ability to drive.

On 7 January 2026 we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. Alongside the strategy, we launched five consultations including a consultation on introducing mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers.

Once the consultation has concluded, we will publish our response in due course.

Data on road collisions involving personal injury are reported to the Department by police forces in Great Britain via the STATS19 system. The latest year for which data is available is 2024.

In 2024, 1,353 people were killed in reported road collisions in England. This compares with 1,370 in 2023 and 1,443 in 2022.

Green Corridors have the potential to be effective mechanisms to deliver first mover activity and accelerate the decarbonisation of the maritime sector globally, as demonstrated in the published findings of the International Green Corridor Fund. These bilaterally-funded studies, with Ireland and the Netherlands, demonstrated the economic feasibility of industry delivering Green Corridors on these routes. The Government is focussed on delivering change through the policies set out in the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy alongside international action at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This will support industry to deliver Green Corridors and widespread decarbonisation of the maritime sector.