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More than 220 graduates have joined the Network Rail team this autumn – twice as many as last year – as the company hires the talent needed to deliver a bigger and better railway. 

Among these young guns, five will be joining the Reading office to help grow and operate a safe and reliable railway across the western route.  Some of them will also be working on developing the Reading railway re-modelling scheme.

More than 220 graduates have joined the Network Rail team this autumn – twice as many as last year – as the company hires the talent needed to deliver a bigger and better railway. 

Among these young guns, eight will be joining the Swindon office to help grow and operate a safe and reliable railway across the western route.

Improvement work to build the passing loop, which is vital to provide an hourly service between Exeter – Waterloo, is near completion. 

“I thought the train would slow down to let me through”.

“Lights?  No, I don’t bother looking at them, I only stop when the barriers start coming down – I wouldn’t want to damage the car.”

“I thought that the train driver was giving way to me when he sounded his horn”

These are just a few of the reality-stretching excuses given by people jumping lights or weaving round barriers at level crossings, as to why they flouted the law and risked lives in order to save a few seconds.

Engineers will begin on a £2m programme of work next week, as part of Network Rail’s annual initiative to improve the branch lines in Devon and Cornwall.

Two rare types of plant will have a better chance to survive on the railway near Avon Gorge this autumn, as Network Rail and Natural England embark on a special exercise to help them flourish in the wild.