Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps with Network Rail to (a) put additional resources in place and (b) deploy specialist teams to deal with drainage issues across the railway network as part of Network Rail’s Modernising Maintenance project, in the context of the derailment at Carmont near Stonehaven in August 2020.

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.