Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the independent review of Network Rail’s lineside vegetation management, published in November 2018, for what reasons Network Rail has felled trees during the nesting season.

Network Rail has a statutory duty to ensure that the railways remain safe throughout the year, and are therefore expected to intervene to address imminent safety risks or hazards that present themselves at the lineside, whenever this may be the case. As part of fulfilling this duty, Network Rail work with independent ecologists and arborists to identify nesting birds and protected species before commissioning any devegetation work, so that appropriate mitigation can be put in place to protect them and minimise disturbance.