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The first of a new fleet of engineering trains which will revolutionise the way Network Rail’s ‘orange army’ carries out railway maintenance and repair work enters service this week.

Network Rail’s 14,000-strong orange army completed a £47m package of investment works as part of its Railway Upgrade Plan over the August bank holiday.

Network Rail today pledged to change its approach as it seeks to boost the number of women working on the railways after new research revealed that girls as young as seven have an ‘unconscious bias’ against engineering and by 14, many have fully switched off from it as a career option.

Network Rail has today published new and updated information on its online transparency portal, including payments made for disruption on the railway and its performance under Freedom of Information.

Four railway workers – from an apprentice to a track manager who has given more than 30 years’ service – are to feature in a new series of adverts advising passengers about engineering work at bank holidays.

Network Rail has teamed up with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to help keep farmers and their workers safe at level crossings at harvest time.

Phil Hufton, managing director of network operations at Network Rail, said: “At the start of this year we had a number of problems that caused passengers disruption and frustration and we apologise for this.  Since then we have proactively invested over £11m to improve performance for Southern and Thameslink passengers.

Network Rail has today announced the appointment of Rob Brighouse as a non-executive director.

Mr Brighouse has 40 years’ experience in the rail industry and is currently managing director of Chiltern Railways, which runs passenger services between London and the West Midlands and is one of Britain’s best performing operators in terms of punctuality and passenger satisfaction.