Latest editorial
Top-rated publicly run East Coast is to get new high-speed trains in a government-backed deal that will create 730 jobs.
Rail union RMT welcomed the £2.7 billion state investment but warned that it risked being yet another taxpayer giveaway rail "rip-off merchants" if the franchise is handed back to profiteers.
Nearly 500 carriages will be built at Hitachi Rail Europe's factory in Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham, said Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
The HS2 debacle exposes what happens when public infrastructure is handed to private contractors – especially when set against China’s state-led high-speed rail success, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
Two-hundred years ago, on September 27 1825, the world’s first passenger railway line was opened between Stockton and Darlington. MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, reflects on the history – and the future – of Britain’s railway industry