Ahead of next weeks final decision on whether plans to build a high-speed rail link connecting London to Birmingham will go ahead or not, Network Rail has said that alternative plans would fail to deliver the same capacity. The initial phase of the HS2 project is slated to be constructed between 2016 and 2026, and [...]

MPs have been hearing how the rate of attempted cable theft on Britain’s railways has escalated to around eight cases every day. Dyan Crowther, Network Rail’s operations director, said the firm had lost more than £40 million in two years, as incidences of theft spread across the UK. She explained to the Transport Select Committee [...]

Network Rail is facing fines which could add up to millions of pounds after a regulator said the operator’s performance continued to deteriorate. The Office of Rail Regulations said that if the company was shown to be in breach of license conditions, then a fine could be imposed. Network Rail was slapped with a £14 [...]

The inquest into the causes of the Grayrigg rail crash has been hearing from a Network Rail engineer who tearfully admitted that it was his responsibility to inspect the points which are being blamed for the incident. David Lewis, a maintenance manager, told the hearing that he had not managed to inspect the area of [...]

Rail organisations said this week that they would focus on keeping popular rail links operating amid severe weather in the coming winter. ScotRail and Network Rail said that routes with the highest number of passengers would be the first to receive help from the new ‘power shower’ system set to be utilised in the coming [...]

An inquest into the Grayrigg rail crash has been hearing how faulty points were to blame. Network Rail track engineer, Keith Vernon, has told the enquiry that he could tell something was very wrong as soon as he arrived on the scene. He explained that the points should not have been in the condition they [...]

The troubled Borders Rail project in Scotland is to be handed over to Network Rail after a lack of interest from private consortiums. According to ministers, the set back will not prevent the project from being completed by the end of 2014. A number of private companies have walked away from the bidding table for [...]

Archaeologists have been called in after the remains of a Roman bath house were discovered on an area of land being developed as part of the new Thameslink project by Network Rail. The site is close to the River Thames on its south bank in Southwark. Initial reports suggest that there are the remains of [...]

Police investigating the theft of copper cabling on the rail network have said that they are considering the possibility that some of the thefts have been coordinated by those who have a knowledge of how the rail system works. British Transport Police chief constable Andy Trotter said it was obvious that in some cases the [...]

Thursday saw several London area rail services disrupted following a cable theft incident. All trains to Cambridge and Stansted airport from Liverpool Street Station were cancelled late on Tuesday night and early Wednesday just after cables were stolen from a location between Sawbridgeworth and Harlow Mill. Other trains in the east of England were also [...]