Railways: Nature Conservation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2026 to Question 5043 on Railways: Nature Conservation, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to Network Rail arising from vegetation clearance works being (i) delayed and (ii) rescheduled following the identification of (a) nesting birds, (b) bats and (c) great crested newts in each of the last five years.
Answered by Keir Mather
Neither the Department nor Network Rail have estimated the cost to Network Rail arising from vegetation management works being delayed or rescheduled following the identification of protected species. Activities such as environmental checks and surveys in advance of vegetation management works are carried out routinely to enable Network Rail to undertake work legally and safely. If work in one area is found not to be possible at a specific time due to protected species, teams will reprioritise to ensure that works are carried out in other locations instead.
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