Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the resilience of passenger rail lines against flooding.

Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager of Britain’s railways, has the main responsibility for maintaining the integrity and safety of the rail network to ensure passenger and freight services can operate reliably. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2029, Network Rail will invest £2.6 billion in activities and technology that will help it better cope with extreme weather and climate change, including flooding. Earlier this year, Network Rail published its Greener Railway Strategy 2025-2050 which includes objectives for climate change adaptation, and each of the five Network Rail regions have produced an updated Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation (WRCCA) Plan for the 2024-29 period.

Network Rail is continuing with research and development on weather resilience and climate change adaptation to gain a better understanding of the vulnerabilities of the rail network to help support engineering and operational decisions. For example, in partnership with the Met Office, its Weather-Related Task Force (WRTF) will focus on providing tools, processes, and support to help routes run a better service during adverse and extreme weather.

Recognising that flooding can impact more than infrastructure, the 14 DfT Train Operating Companies (TOCs) will submit their first WRCCA strategies early next year. These will provide a risk assessment as to how flooding, and other weather and climate hazards, can impact stations, staff, customers and services, and an initial adaptation plan for addressing those risks. The Department has facilitated collaboration between Network Rail and the TOCs during the writing of these strategies to ensure a more holistic approach to managing climate-related risks.

Finally, in December 2025, the Department will publish its cross-modal Transport Adaptation Strategy which focuses on using robust evidence and a systems-based approach to mainstream adaptation in business as usual, including managing flooding on the rail network.