Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 19th February 2026.
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday 19th February 2026
British Steel has secured a new order worth tens of millions of pounds for a major high-speed electric railway in Turkey.
The 8-figure agreement, supported by UK Export Finance, will see British Steel supply 36,000 tonnes of rail to ERG International Group.
It will help create a 599km line between Ankara and İzmir, significantly reducing carbon emissions by cutting rail travel time between the Turkish capital and port city
The contract has created 23 new roles and seen the business start 24-7 rail manufacturing operations for the first time in over a decade.
Northern leaders, including Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, have welcomed a shake-up of Treasury rules which they hope will speed up efforts to build new rail and tram links.
An article on the I paper says Burnham said the new rules could finally unlock billions of pounds of investment after years of promises to level up the North and Midlands.
The rules shake-up will boost £45bn plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail – a network of rail upgrades designed to provide faster connections across the whole of the North of England – sources believe, as well as a new £2bn station at Bradford and a £1bn tram link in Birmingham.
Transport chiefs in the West of England have told residents living alongside a long-forgotten old railway line that they will begin the first step in what could eventually see the line finally brought back into use as a major Bristol-Bath transport route later this month.
An article on Bristol Live says the West of England Combined Authority has told people whose homes back onto the old North Somerset Railway line in Brislington – known locally as the Tramway – that they have appointed team to clear the vegetation and brambles from a large section of the line.
The metro mayor’s team said they needed to do that to ‘enable future site investigations to help inform proposals for the area’ – the first sign of the possibility of a new use for the route happening on the ground in more than 60 years since the old railway was closed in the mid 1960s.
An abandoned kitten who was found on an Edinburgh train is now in her forever home. Daisy – previously named Annie – captured hearts across the country, after she was discovered on a morning service from Helensburgh to the capital back in January.
After being in the care of the Cats Protection Glasgow Branch, Daisy found her true love just in time for Valentine’s Day.
ScotRail team member, Marie Fox, was one of the first people to look after the kitty when she was found, reports Glasgow Live.
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