Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Network Rail on (a) allocating additional resources, (b) deploying specialist drainage teams and (c) recruiting and retaining qualified maintenance staff to (i) pre-empt and (ii) mitigate the impact of (A) flooding and (B) landslips on railway network infrastructure.

Maintaining world leading levels of rail safety remains our top priority in rail. My department has committed £44.1 billion to Network Rail to spend on operations, maintenance, and renewal work on the network in England and Wales during Control Period 7. A further £4.2 billion has been made available to Network Rail Scotland for similar purposes to drive improvements in safety and reliability. Network Rail is responsible for mitigating risks associated with drainage issues within this funding settlement and in accordance with rail safety legislation.