Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent fatalities on the rail network.

My Department remains firmly committed to reducing passenger, workforce and public fatalities on the railways, whether it be on mainline or non-mainline parts of the network.

The UK has a strong safety record and we continue to work closely with Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager of Britain’s railways, and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), as the safety regulator, to ensure that duty holders discharge their statutory safety duties correctly and enhance their safety arrangements, wherever possible.

This includes managing risks associated with civil engineering assets, extreme weather events, track and lineside, level crossings, depots, occupational health, trespassing and suicides, among other areas, as identified in the ORR’s annual safety report for 2019-2020. We are also working with industry to ensure that recommendations produced by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) are effectively implemented in a timely manner, including those directed at the Department.