Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the RSSB report, Covid Transmission Rates on Rail, published in August 2020, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of covid-19 transmission on rail journeys.

The Department for Transport’s decisions continue to be informed by the most up-to-date scientific evidence and advice, including advice from SAGE, its sub-groups, industry and academia.

The Department is working hard and collaborating across the UK’s research and innovation community, including with Rail Safety and Standards Board, to build and assess a broad base of evidence to better understand transmission and interventions that help reduce transmission risk. This includes working with SAGE, industry and academia on the Transport Risk Assessment for COVID Knowledge (TRACK) project. This is an 18-month, £2 million UK Research and Innovation-funded project designed to address critical knowledge gaps around transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on public transport, including on rail. Outputs from this project will continue to help inform decisions and practices for mitigating risk of transmission in public transport.