Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the use of rail industry data in rail (a) operations and (b) infrastructure; and if he will make a statement.

The department uses data extensively to underpin all decisions it makes on rail operations and infrastructure, and keeps the quality of its data sources and analysis under continual review.

We are working closely with the rail industry to deliver improvements to data sharing, as set out in the Joint Rail Data Action Plan 2018 and Rail Sector Deal 2018. This will help to identify the value of industry rail data assets across a wide set of use cases and unlock access to data across the industry, for government and for external stakeholders, improving transparency and stimulating innovation.