A major project to upgrade overhead line equipment between London and Bedford has been successfully delivered by Network Rail – on time and under budget. The £84 million Midland Main Line improvement project – called OLE125 Compatibility – ran from September 2023 to June this year. Overhead wires and supporting infrastructure installed in the 1980s […]
Category: Rail Projects
Footage released of East West Rail’s first commercial freight train
The first commercial freight train has travelled along the East West Rail line as part of its journey into a new strategic rail freight interchange in Northampton. Shortly after 13:00 yesterday (Monday 16 June) the service from Didcot came onto the new infrastructure at Oxford, travelling the 35 miles to Milton Keynes to connect with […]
Third HS2 tunnelling machine completes its drive beneath London
HS2’s tunnelling team in London is one step closer to completing the capital’s Northolt Tunnel after the latest in a series of complex tunnelling breakthroughs. The tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Emily, completed its 3.4-mile drive at Green Park Way in Greenford, west London – the third of four machines to complete its work on […]
Railway upgrade works between Bridgend and St Fagans, Cardiff
Network Rail (Wales and Borders) is undertaking an essential programme of track renewal and maintenance work between Bridgend and St Fagans. The works – which include renewing rails, sleepers, and stones under the track – are critical to maintaining the safety and reliability of the rail network. The work will involve a combination of day […]
Passengers advised of rail improvement work affecting Midland Main Line journeys over several weekends
A range of rail improvement projects will be carried out during a series of weekend engineering work affecting London journeys on the Midland Main Line. Passengers are advised to plan ahead as journeys will take longer than usual because of the planned upgrades between Kettering and Leicester. The improvements – taking place on six consecutive […]
Lift off! Giant HS2 tunnelling machine to be given a new lease of life
After completing the 3.5-mile mission to excavate the first section of the Bromford Tunnel, linking North Warwickshire and Birmingham, HS2’s giant tunnel boring machine (TBM) Mary Ann is being stripped down ready to take on her next tunnelling adventure. The first stage in the process to disassemble the 1,600-tonne machine saw the TBM’s 8.62-metre diameter […]
Record number of unemployed secure jobs on HS2
HS2 has delivered another boost to regional economies along the West Midlands – London growth corridor, as it confirms that over 5,000 unemployed people have progressed into jobs on Britian’s biggest construction project. The latest data from HS2 Ltd shows that an additional 199 jobseekers joined the workforce between January and March 2025, taking the […]
HS2 prepares for first M6 viaduct slide
The construction of two parallel viaducts that will carry HS2 trains over the M6 near Birmingham Airport has taken a major step forward, with the first section of structural steelwork now complete. To reduce disruption for motorists, the twin 320-metre-long M6 South viaducts are being assembled to one side and will be slid over the […]
West Yorkshire rail upgrades will impact travel
From Monday 26 May until Friday 20 June, services will be impacted between Huddersfield and Leeds to facilitate Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) work at different sites across this section of the route. Weekday services between Ravensthorpe and Leeds will be impacted between Ravensthorpe and Leeds during this period. Weekend services remain unaffected. Weekend services between […]
East West Rail’s ground investigations unearth Jurassic fossils
East West Railway Company (EWR Co) has begun the first phase of ground investigations along the proposed route between Oxford and Cambridge – with fossils including sharks’ teeth from the dinosaur age unearthed in early soil samples. The work aims to ensure the new railway is designed and built in an environmentally sustainable, safe and […]