Though it is traditional to predict what a new year will bring, Rail Engineer is mindful of an ancient Chinese saying that: “Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge.” Hence, we prefer to consider what may happen rather than to predict.
A huge issue for the industry this year is the passage of the Great British Railways (GBR) Bill through Parliament. Though various issues still need to be resolved, the need for a unifying organisation seems to be accepted by all concerned, so it is to be hoped that the Bill might receive royal ascent by the end of this year.
When 2026 comes to a close, 11 train operators should have been transferred into public ownership under the DfT Operator (DFTO). Experience to date has shown the significant benefits of reuniting track and train. Our report on the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Parliamentary reception shows how Rail Minister Lord Hendy envisages GBR’s role. His immediate priority is defining what the GBR organisation will look like in 2027.
A GBR Bill requirement is the production of a 30-year Long-Term Rail Strategy (LTRS) which should be published this summer. It is to be hoped that it will take a whole system view of the need for electrification. Our feature on Discontinuous Electrification (DE) explains why continuous electrification has the lowest whole life cost on intensively used lines and discontinuous electrification is “nonsensical” for freight trains. Thus, LTRS’s consideration of electrification will show whether the promised whole system view is being taken.
It will be interesting to see how many new main line trains are ordered this year. A Rail Engineer feature in early 2024 considered the ‘boom and bust’ cycle of rolling stock procurement. With only 150 vehicles ordered since then, a shortfall of work still threatens UK rolling stock plants. In June, directors from Siemens and Alstom both stressed this point when they gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee’s (TSC) investigation on rail investment pipelines. It is to be hoped that the TSC will soon publish this inquiry report which is expected to emphasise the need for a consistent pipeline for skills retention and business stability.
Valuable skills were lost when the Midland Main Line (MML) electrification team was disbanded. Instead of ‘pausing’ MML electrification, the option to slow down its delivery to retain these skills should have been considered as such lost skills can only increase the cost of further electrification.
Speaking at the Parliamentary reception, RIA’s Darren Caplan advised that over 60% of rail business leaders expect market contraction and staff reductions. He hoped Government will provide clarity and certainty for suppliers this year.
For HS2, 2026 should see the completion of its reset to provide a definitive cost and schedule. With the WCML now having no spare paths south of Crewe, it remains to be seen if there will be any plans to alleviate this problem or to address the issue of shorter HS2 trains on the WCML reducing passenger capacity. With the new NPR Liverpool to Manchester line prioritised over the more congested, shovel-ready HS2 Phase 2a route to Crewe, the Parliamentary powers to build this route expired on 11 February.
Our feature on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) shows that much is far from certain. The commitment to a new Bradford station is only to review its business case though a decision is promised this summer. Similarly, the announcement about the re-opening of the Leamside line was about consideration of its business case. The upgrades east of the Pennines need to be defined. The case for an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly is to be assessed and much of the new Liverpool to Manchester route is still a line on a map. It will be interesting to see how NPR develops in 2026.
High costs, such as the £2.5 billion cost of a Leeds tram network, are also delaying much needed urban transport improvements in the North. One possible solution is the Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) which reduces the number of utility diversions required. As we report, work should start this year on an 850-metre CVLR demonstration line.
The new Beaulieu Park station near Chelmsford will serve 6,000 new homes. As David Fenner reports, this was a good example of an externally financed railway enhancement project with Essex County Council pulling together a £175 million funding package. In another station feature, Bob Wright describes the challenges of reglazing Liverpool Street station’s roof.
Although Shap cutting is one of the numerous locations with sensors to detect earthworks movement, these did not detect the landslip that caused the recent derailment, as Paul Darlington explains. Graeme Bickerdike discusses another infrastructure failure caused by scour after a river changed its course. The Spey viaduct last carried trains in 1968 and, until two of its spans collapsed in December, was a cycle path – the loss of which is a blow to the local community.
Malcolm Dobell reports on two informative Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ events. His part two report on a cracks and fractures seminar shows the importance of managing the wheel-rail system as a whole and how design assumptions may not reflect reality. Another seminar on the automation of railway inspection and maintenance described the technologies available. It also emphasised the need for the data that sensors generate to be seamlessly integrated into a cohesive platform.
While most passenger trains have coaches with the same braking performance, this is certainly not the case for a long air-braked freight train. Our feature on freight train braking explains this can result in hazards, one of which is longitudinal compressive forces. Fitting ETCS to older, non-standard trains has its challenges as we describe in another article.
As always, a huge amount of work is done by thousands of workers over the Christmas period, and work valued at £163 million was delivered over the final days of 2025. Matt Atkins describes the key work carried out over the festive period and within blockades during January. While it’s not possible to avoid such line closures, the impact on passengers must not be forgotten. On a much smaller scale, Bob Wright describes the work done by 507 Specialist Team Royal Engineers (STRE), the British Army’s only dedicated railway engineering unit.
Whatever happens in 2026, Rail Engineer hopes that it will be a good year for our readers.