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Hobbit author JRR Tolkien is known to have stayed in the village of Great Haywood, on the edge of the Shugborough estate near Stafford. Could Shugborough railway tunnel have been the inspiration for his words "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."?

New technology that could boost the capacity of the network and allow operators to run more trains, more often, and more efficiently has been unveiled this week.

While the residents of Salford are piling on the pounds after tucking into their turkey and mince pies, workers from Network Rail and its principal contractor Buckingham will be doing a different kind of piling.

An early glimpse of Birmingham New Street’s bright future appeared this week as the first sections of the station and new retail destination's stunning new façade were installed.

Nearly a hundred people were involved in slips, trips or falls at Leeds station between 1 April 2011 and 31 March 2012 at Leeds Station, according to the latest figures published by Network Rail. A third of these incidents happened on a Friday and Saturday.

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn (centre) opens one of the two platforms lengthened to accommodate the first 12-carriage trains at Finsbury Park flanked by (right) First Capital Connect managing director Neal Lawson and (left) Network Rail route director Phil Verster