UK rail industry news round-up

This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry from Rail Business UK. A celebration was held to mark the opening of Okehampton Interchange on July 31 ahead of the start of revenue services the following day. The station complements the existing Okehampton station on the Dartmoor Line, which saw the return of…

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Welsh rail ridership and revenue surge, but staff costs outweigh farebox income

Transport for Wales has reported growing revenue and ridership across its rail operations in 2025-26, while also highlighting progress in delivering major infrastructure enhancements and deploying pay-as-you-go ticketing. The Welsh government’s transport agency ireported on July 30 that rail revenues had increased by 8.9% compared to 2024-25, reaching £190.3m. Customer satisfaction with TfW Rail services…

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Transport Scotland working group explores options for international Caledonian Sleeper services

The Scottish government’s delivery body Transport Scotland has begun exploring the possibility of launching direct overnight passenger services to and from destinations in continental Europe, in line with a commitment made by the government in its most recent election campaign. Transport Scotland announced on August 4 that a working group had met for the first…

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Rail travel is cheaper, greener and more productive than flying

A comparison of rail and domestic air travel across long-distance routes in Great Britain found that taking the train is on average 71% cheaper than flying, produces 85% less carbon emissions, and provides passengers with around 3 h more usable time per journey. The ‘Clearing the Air’ report was commissioned by the Rail Delivery Group…

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Heavy Haul Rail signs Armed Forces Covenant

Heavy Haul Rail has become a signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant, a recognised agreement between the industry and the Ministry of Defence. This voluntary commitment by organisations and public bodies seeks to ensure that members of the UK’s armed forces community are treated fairly and are not disadvantaged because of their service. Other signatory…

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Northern suppliers participate in TransPennine Express train seat refresh

The seats on the Nova 1 trainsets which TransPennine Express operates between Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Scarborough and Edinburgh are to be refreshed by the end of the year. The 19 five-car Class 802 electro-diesel multiple-units are owned by Angel Trains. The seat refresh project is being undertaken by manufacturer Hitachi Rail, with Sheffield-based Diamond Group…

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Rail is ‘not short of innovation, but lacks pathways to adoption’, says report

The rail industry has become significantly more open to innovation, but systemic barriers continue to prevent many promising technologies from reaching widespread deployment, according to a report published by the Rail Innovation Group to mark its 10th anniversary. The Small Voices Big Impact: 10 Years of Innovation – From Entry Barriers to Scaled Impact reports…

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Saltley Viaduct section to be installed over August bank holiday

A section of the replacement Saltley Viaduct road bridge crossing the railway between Birmingham and Water Orton is to be installed over the bank holiday weekend of August 29 to 31. The viaduct is located 3.2 km northeast of Birmingham city centre. The current bridge is not high enough for the future High Speed 2…

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Heart of Wales line to get low-cost train detection

Network Rail’s Heart of Wales line is to be equipped throughout with Universal Signalling’s U-Cross train positioning system, following a successful trial in November 2025. The infrastructure manager announced on July 30 that it had allocated funding from its national Research & Development programme to plan the roll-out of the train positioning beacons on the…

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Pendolino to Paddington marks formal end of Railway 200 celebrations

Stalwarts of the West Coast and Great Western main line fleets met at London Paddington on July 31 for a small celebration to mark the end of the Railway 200 anniversary programme. On the first anniversary of last summer’s Greatest Gathering festival held at Derby’s Litchurch Lane works, Avanti West Coast’s Alstom Pendolino no 390200…

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Regulator opens discussion to prepare rail asset operating licences for Great British Railways

The Office of Rail & Road has published a discussion document setting out how it proposes to ensure existing railway licences are updated to be ready for the reformed railway under Great British Railways. While GBR will have a newly drafted single licence issued by the Secretary of State, ORR will continue to be responsible…

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Tram driver competence framework under development

The Light Rail Safety & Standards Board is leading the development of a national accreditation framework which aims to establish a clear and consistent baseline for tram driver competence standards and training across the light rail sector. The Tram Driver Competence & Continuing Professional Development Framework brings together existing industry standards, regulations and operational guidance,…

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Renegotiated High Speed 2 civil works construction contracts signed

Project promoter HS2 Ltd has signed renegotiated commercial contracts with two of its civil works contractors for the London to Birmingham high speed line as part of the ‘reset’ of the troubled programme. HS2 Ltd said on July 31 that the signing of the new contracts with the EKFB and Align joint ventures was ‘a…

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Baker Viaduct crosses the River Calder

The penultimate pair of beams for the Baker Viaduct, being built in Ravensthorpe as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, was installed on July 29, connecting the structural steelwork either side of the River Calder. The 350 m long viaduct now spans two waterways after crossing the Calder & Ribble Navigation last year. The viaduct…

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On Train Passenger Announcements pilot scheme aims to improve communications during disruption

An On Train Passenger Announcements system developed by Network Rail, train operators and the Rail Delivery Group to improve communications during disruption is being piloted on 38 ScotRail trains. OTPA enables the operator’s control centre to send announcements directly to trains, helping passengers receive timely, consistent updates when services are disrupted. The announcements use text-to-speech…

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On Train Passenger Announcements pilot scheme aims to improve communications during disruption

An On Train Passenger Announcements system developed by Network Rail, train operators and the Rail Delivery Group to improve communications during disruption is being piloted on 38 ScotRail trains. OTPA enables the operator’s control centre to send announcements directly to trains, helping passengers receive timely, consistent updates when services are disrupted. The announcements use text-to-speech…

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KeolisAmey Metrolink MD joins Light Rail Safety & Standards Board

Damien Chabas, Managing Director of Manchester light rail operator KeolisAmey Metrolink, has joined the Light Rail Safety & Standards Board to strengthen operator representation as part of an ongoing restructuring of its governance model. Commenting on his appointment, Chabas said ‘I look forward to collaborating with the board to champion robust standards, mitigate existing and…

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Hapag-Lloyd launches rail service from English ports to Scotland

Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd is launching rail services connecting three of England’s main ports with the Glasgow area. Operated with DB Cargo UK, PD Stirling and Newell & Wright, the intermodal services will connect Southampton, London Gateway and Felixstowe with a terminal at Bellshill, near Mossend yard. Trains will run three times per week, according to…

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UK rail industry news round-up

This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry from Rail Business UK. LNER will operate two return services from Newcastle to Bedford when engineering works close the East Coast Main Line south of Peterborough on August 30. Passengers will be able to change at Bedford for Thameslink services to London St Pancras…

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GB Railfreight’s Class 99 electro-diesel locos begin entering commercial service

GB Railfreight has operated the first commercial service hauled by a Stadler Class 99 locomotive in what it said was ‘a major milestone in the modernisation and decarbonisation of Britain’s rail freight network’. On July 28 loco 99 001 hauled an intermodal train for Maritime Transport from DP World’s London Gateway to Maritime’s Hams Hall Rail…

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Tracsis to buy FirstGroup’s Mistral Data rail software business

Tracsis has agreed to acquire Mistral Data, which was established in 2010 as the technology innovation arm of FirstGroup and has developed into a provider of software to the wider rail industry. Mistral Data’s portfolio of business-critical cloud-native software covers four areas: customer & revenue; rail operations & staff communications; asset management & data platforms;…

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Burts Snacks introduces custom crisp packet size for GWR

As part of Burts Snacks’ expansion into new retail and convenience channels, it is supplying Great Western Railway with crisps in 25 g packs for first class passengers. The smaller ‘travel format’ packs are produced using 40-micron film and feature a distinctive roundel colour to differentiate them from the brand’s standard 40 g retail packs.…

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Suzanne Grant appointed Interim Managing Director of Merseyrail

Chief Commercial Officer & Deputy Managing Director Suzanne Grant has been appointed as Interim Managing Director of Merseyrail. She replaces Neil Grabham who is undertaking an assignment as Interim Managing Director of East Midlands Railway with effect from July 27. Merseyrail said ‘having worked closely alongside Suzanne, Neil has expressed his full support and confidence…

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Number of freight trains lowest in more than two decades

Office of Rail & Road figures show that total number of freight trains moving on the British network in the 12 months to the end of March 2026 was the lowest since at least 2003-04. There has been a constant decrease from more than 400 000 trains in 2003-04 to 186 131 in 2025-06. Year-on-year declines…

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Unipart secures contract for preventative maintenance of TfL points machines

Unipart has signed an agreement with Transport for London to provide a proactive preventative maintenance programme for an initial tranche of seven of points machines The supplier hopes that successful delivery will establish a platform for future growth, with the potential to introduce wider cyclic maintenance programmes across the network. Unipart said the contract was…

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Network Rail sells London property assets

Network Rail has announced a ‘multi-million pound deal’ to sell several property assets in London to The Arch Company, which rents out spaces such as railway arches for commercial use.  The deal announced on July 22 includes a broad mix of railway arches and investment assets, including in Borough Market, which are used for light…

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East Midlands Railway Managing Director departs

East Midlands Railway Managing Director Will Rogers is to leave his post with immediate effect, parent company Transport UK announced on July 27. The company said ‘Will has decided it is time to step back and spend some more time with his family’. The announcement came a week after the operator introduced a reduced timetable…

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‘Safety is never finished’ says GB Railfreight as it launches Work Safe = Home Safe campaign

Freight operator GB Railfreight has launched a Work Safe = Home Safe campaign designed to strengthen its safety culture and encourage staff to put safety first in every decision they make. The campaign brings together safety communications under a single banner and highlights investments, innovations and improvements to make GBRf a safer place to work.…

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