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

• 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.

Passengers can travel across most of Britain’s railway this Christmas while engineers use the quieter festive period to deliver important upgrades at a small number of locations.

• Today (13 October) marks Ada Lovelace Day, celebrating the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fields.  
• Two of Network Rail’s female engineers share their stories about how the railway helped them build successful careers. 

• Trespass crime including cable theft, vandalism, and obstruction caused nearly five months of delays to passengers and cost the industry over £10 million in delay costs in 2025/26
• Cable theft alone caused over 2,100 hours of delays and saw delay costs double to £6.8m in 2025/26 
• New crackdown campaign sees rail industry and British Transport Police working closer together than ever in tackling trespass and railway crime  
• New technology and better evidence gathering to bring more offenders to justice and reduce impact on passengers. 

• Molly Neal appointed as Integrated Communications Director, working across DFTO and Network Rail.
• New role aligns messaging across the rail industry as it transitions to Great British Railways (GBR).
• Landmark appointment marks a major practical step in bringing track and train closer together.

Most of Britain’s railway is open for business throughout the August Bank Holiday weekend, although some routes will be affected by planned improvement work and industrial action impacting East Midlands Railway (EMR) services