Welcome to Network Rail's media centre

First AI apprentices join Britain's railway: GBRX AI apprentices

First AI apprentices join Britain's railway

Thursday 22 Oct 2026

The first cohort of Artificial Intelligence Engineering Apprentices has joined Britain's railway.

Journey to Great British Railways: New leadership appointment puts customers at the heart of Britain’s railway: David Horne-7

Journey to Great British Railways: New leadership appointment puts customers at the heart of Britain’s railway

Wednesday 21 Oct 2026
  • David Horne appointed as Integrated Chief Customer and Commercial Officer (ICCCO), bringing customer insight and commercial leadership together ahead of Great British Railways (GBR).
  • The new role will put customers at the heart of decisions and lead a single customer and commercial strategy for the railway.

Latest News

South Western tackles slippery rails and storm damage this autumn: Leaf busting train on a circuit - Leaf-busting trains like these will treat tracks and remove leaf residue across our network.

South Western tackles slippery rails and storm damage this autumn

Friday 30 Oct 2026
  • Leaf-busting trains and enhanced braking technology are helping protect the South Western network during challenging conditions and keep trains running safely and reliably 
  • Lots of trees fell across the South Western network during last week’s Storm Austen and Storm Boelo, which caused widespread disruption 
  • The named storms marked the beginning of a challenging time of year for Britain’s railways, with more storms, heavy rain and strong winds expected 
  • Leaf-busting trains will travel around 140,000 miles to clear tracks on the South Western network  
  • Major weather resilience projects, from drainage improvements on the Isle of Wight to landslip prevention in Somerset, are helping protect the network against extreme weather  
Tomorrow: Essential Island Line improvement works begin: The first Island Line passenger service to arrive at Ryde Esplanade from Ryde Pier Head cropped cropped-2

Tomorrow: Essential Island Line improvement works begin

Friday 30 Oct 2026
  • The Island Line will be closed between Saturday 31 October and Sunday 15 November for essential improvement work 
  • Further improvements will take place between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde St Johns Road between Monday 16 and Sunday 29 November 
  • Customers should plan their journeys carefully as buses will replace trains 
Five stations in the west of England to benefit from more than £24m of accessibility improvements: New lifts at Weston-Super-Mare

Five stations in the west of England to benefit from more than £24m of accessibility improvements

Friday 30 Oct 2026

A major programme of improvements is gathering pace at stations across the west of England, making the railway more accessible for passengers and local communities.

Passengers advised to plan ahead during major November engineering work in west Wales: Network Rail track renewal stock image cropped

Passengers advised to plan ahead during major November engineering work in west Wales

Friday 30 Oct 2026

Essential track renewals and maintenance work will take place from early November, helping to improve the safety, reliability and resilience of the railway across west Wales.

Work to upgrade footbridge set to resume at Longport station: Longport footbridge 2-2

Work to upgrade footbridge set to resume at Longport station

Friday 30 Oct 2026

Network Rail will resume work at Longport this weekend, as part of a £1.4m investment to overhaul the station’s footbridge.  

Young train fan’s ‘brilliant’ rail day – nearly a decade on from first signal box visit: Jack tries his hand at the Shildon signals

Young train fan’s ‘brilliant’ rail day – nearly a decade on from first signal box visit

Thursday 29 Oct 2026

A railway-mad youngster enjoyed a special day behind the scenes on the railway – nearly 10 years after his memorable first visit to a signal box.

A clean sweep of Lowestoft station track: vacuum power to help boost railway reliability: Platforms 2 and 3 at Lowestoft ahead of track replacement work (Credit AIVR by One Big Circle)

A clean sweep of Lowestoft station track: vacuum power to help boost railway reliability

Thursday 29 Oct 2026

Over four consecutive November days, engineers will be replacing 50-year-old track in platforms 2 and 3 at Lowestoft station to help drive down delays for Suffolk and Norfolk rail passengers.

City Thameslink station to get 10 new escalators during closure from mid-May to late December 2027 as part of major escalator replacement programme: City Thameslink High Holborn side entrance

City Thameslink station to get 10 new escalators during closure from mid-May to late December 2027 as part of major escalator replacement programme

Thursday 29 Oct 2026

Passengers will need to use London Blackfriars station as an alternative station during the upgrade.