This week’s round-up of business news from the UK railway industry.
West Midlands Railway opened its new stations at Willenhall and Darlaston on March 19, initially served by stopping trains on the Birmingham - Shrewsbury route. The project was led by Transport for West Midlands and the West Midlands Rail Executive, with construction undertaken by Kier. The stations have sheltered platforms, accessible lifts, ticket machines and secure cycle racks. Darlaston has a car park with 300 spaces for park-and-ride commuters, while Willenhall has 33 parking spaces. ‘The reopening of Willenhall and Darlaston stations is a huge moment for communities that have been cut off from the rail network for six decades’, said Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker. Three stations on the Camp Hill line south of Birmingham are due to open in April.
Network Rail is to directly award CACI a £1m contract for the continued provision of the Network Rail Open Data service for two years from May 1 2026, including hosting, processing and management of the platform and publishing of datasets into the Rail Data Marketplace. This is supplied as a fixed‑price, time‑limited managed service, with no change in scope or functional delivery from the existing live service.
Spencer Rail Engineering is leading the detailed design stage of work to upgrade the roof at Greater Anglia’s Norwich Crown Point depot. This will include replacement of the main roof cladding, upgrades to skylights, safe walkways and access arrangements, new fire detection and ventilation systems, electrical upgrades and lightning protection.
Ground engineering specialist Mainmark UK has secured a place on Balfour Beatty’s CP7 Framework. ‘This framework is a fantastic opportunity for our team and aligns perfectly with our growth plans. It also strengthens our position within the UK rail supply chain’, said General Manager Tom Kavanagh.
The Global Centre of Rail Excellence says ‘several blue-chip organisations’ have submitted formal expressions of interest in developing renewable energy sources and a data centre on its 700 ha site in South Wales. A second stage of dialogue will now take place with bidders to develop their proposals further. ‘Energy and data centre infrastructure on the site will help underpin GCRE’s wider development and is something that underpins our search for investment for the rail project’, said GCRE Ltd Chief Executive Simon Jones.
QTS Group has promoted Adam Jordan to Director of Engineering, based at the rail contractor’s Rench Farm HQ office and overseeing engineering strategy and delivery. Tony Vozniak has joined the company as Derby-based HSQE Director, a new stand-alone role covering health, safety, quality and environmental performance, working with Compliance Director Iain Kirk. Existing board member Bruno Martin has been promoted to Strategy & Technical Director, based in Manchester and focusing on developing strategic industry partnerships and exploring new market opportunities.
RAIB has made one recommendation to Swietelsky Construction in its report into two track workers struck by a wagon being propelled by a rail crane at Port Glasgow on March 15 2025. This deals with reviewing the communications equipment and protocols used when controlling movements of its rail cranes, in relation to Network Rail’s standards. This recommendation is also highlighted to other similar operators of rail cranes. Recommendations to Network Rail cover reviewing its standards relating to the use of radio communications for controlling movements of on-track machines, and reviewing its assurance processes for monitoring compliance with such requirements. Three learning points relating to staff compliance with the requirement to only start work when they have been briefed by a COSS, requirements for lighting on wagons in possessions and the application of safety‑critical communication procedures.