Rail News – September 2026

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has revealed that, under Great British Railways (GBR), new trains could be publicly-owned rather than leased.

As part of the Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy, GBR will reportedly assess “whether direct public ownership, leasing or other financing arrangements offer the best value for taxpayers and fare payers.”

The Transport Secretary made the announcement at the Labour Party Conference on Monday 28 September. In an accompanying statement, the Department for Transport (DfT) said that GBR would take a “case-by-case approach” when buying new trains.

Sourced from Rail Business Daily

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Work to create the UK’s first battery-electric trains for long-distance main line services is set to begin in 2028, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.

The 29 new Adessia Stream trains are expected to enter service in 2034 and will be built at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane factory in Derby.

The government said the investment of almost £1bn would help support more than 350 jobs at Alstom and a further 6,000 jobs across the UK supply chain.

The DfT said the trains would help deliver the TransPennine Route Upgrade’s aim to boost capacity by 30%, with thousands of additional seats a day across the Pennines by the early to mid-2030s.

Sourced from BBC news website