Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) train scheduling and (b) barrier down-time on the number of unsafe crossing attempts by (i) pedestrians and (ii) drivers.

It is for Network Rail, as the operator of Britain’s rail network, to manage the risks at level crossings and to implement protective measures to manage those risks accordingly, consistent with its statutory obligations. Network Rail will consider numerous factors to inform its approach and ensure the safety of the public, from the frequency of services and pedestrian and road traffic volume at the crossing, to user behaviour and historical incident data, among other things. As it is the safety duty holder, it is best placed to make judgments on how best to mitigate risks at level crossings to ensure users are kept safe.