Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2025 to Question 93226 on Level Crossings, for what reason responsibility for assessing and managing level-crossing down-time rests solely with Network Rail rather than being shared with local authorities or National Highways.

Level crossings form part of the rail estate and legal responsibility for their safe operation falls to the relevant infrastructure manager, such as Network Rail. Infrastructure managers must operate level crossings in line with their statutory duties but they work closely with local authorities, highways agencies and users to understand the impacts of barrier downtime. Effective co-operation and collaboration between these parties is critical and each has an important role to play.