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Written question asked by Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 29 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 1 July 2026. It was answered by Simon Lightwood (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Railways: Chichester

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the resilience of railway infrastructure in extreme weather in Chichester constituency.

Answer

The Department for Transport has plans in place and underway with industry to adapt to, and mitigate, the risks of extreme weather caused by climate change. Network Rail, as the infrastructure manager of Britain’s railways, has the main responsibility for maintaining the integrity and safety of the rail network to ensure passenger and freight services can operate reliably.

Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2029, Network Rail will invest £2.6 billion in activities and technology that will help it better cope with extreme weather and climate change. Network Rail published its regional weather resilience and climate change adaptation (WRCCA) plans for 2024-2029 in April 2024. These explain how weather and climate change can affect its infrastructure at a more targeted, local level.

Information on these publications, including Southern's (which covers Chichester) can be found here:  https://www.networkrail.co.uk/sustainability/climate-change/climate-change-adaptation/.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
14117
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Railways Chichester Weather
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk