The Department for Transport provides strategic direction and funding to the railways in England and Wales and buys rail franchises and projects. Their work is directed and overseen by the Secretary of State for Transport and his team.
The DfT Rail group's objectives are:
- to make sure that the way the railway is run makes money and continues to improve the way it handles safety
- to get good value for rail passengers, through effective management of funds
- to develop and deliver an affordable and sustainable strategy for the development of the rail industry structure
- to ensure projects are delivered on time and to budget.
The Scottish government has the same responsibilities in Scotland.
As the independent regulator, we work with rail infrastructure companies, safety organisations and the British, Scottish and Welsh governments. Our role is to protect the interests of rail and road users and improve the safety, value and performance of the UK’s railways and roads, today and in the future.
DfT has a mailbox (rail.safety@dft.gov.uk) that rail industry members can subscribe to by emailing the mailbox with the subject "subscribe". The mailbox will be used by DfT to provide updates about developments in rail safety policy (for example the launch of a consultation, publication of reports, or updates to the website).