To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to encourage train operating companies to establish a rail to refuge scheme for people experiencing domestic abuse.

The railway is much more than trains and rail track and we want to encourage wider support for the communities that it serves.

The ‘Rail to Refuge’ initiative is certainly a scheme that I am keen to endorse. It complements our drive to protect vulnerable children and adults at risk whilst they are travelling within the rail network through the Safeguarding on Rail Scheme, which came into existence during 2019 and is now a franchising obligation that Train Operating Companies will be required to adopt in new/future franchise competitions and awards.