Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the effectiveness of Network Rail's suicide prevention campaign at Coventry train stat; and if he will make a statement.

Government and the rail industry, including Network Rail, are jointly engaged in activity to reduce the number of suicides on the rail network. The Department has recently introduced additional requirements into franchise agreements to support the important work of safeguarding and suicide prevention.

Last year over 1800 lifesaving interventions were made, with 2016/17 having the lowest number of suicide events recorded on the railway since the rail industry’s suicide prevention programme began in 2010.

The City of Coventry’s Suicide Prevention Strategy includes a commitment from Network Rail to work with local authorities to support suicide prevention on the railways in the area. This includes the recent implementation of intervention patrols aimed at preventing suicides at all stations on the West Coast Main Line, including Coventry Station.