Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable Network Rail has set for the clearance of construction and maintenance waste from lineside land across the rail network.

When work is being undertaken, how any waste will be removed is part of Network Rail’s plan for the works and, in general, waste is removed at the end of works. At times, material will be left lineside for forthcoming works in the same area.

On occasion, it may be difficult for Network Rail to remove material at the end of works due to availability of appropriate equipment, for example a specific recovery train may be needed. Depending on the location, it may be more cost effective to leave materials lineside for some time until the required logistics can be planned. There is no specific timeframe for this, but Network Rail is aware there is value in all its materials either via reuse internally, for onward sale, or recycling, so materials will not be left lineside if cost efficient recovery is feasible. Network Rail’s track materials currently have a reuse rate of almost 80% with 19.9% recycled and less than 1% sent for recovery (generally contaminated material).