A new large mural promoting a nationwide initiative to end men’s violence against women and girls has been revealed on Platform 2 at Rugby station. The piece is part of Avanti West Coast’s continued collaboration with White Ribbon UK, created alongside the Heart of England Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and local artist Emily Marlowe. The design showcases individuals of varying genders, ages, and cultural backgrounds, accompanied by the message: “It takes all of us—let’s wo

City of York Council has revealed that bringing its highways network up to an optimal standard would require an estimated £102 million, underlining the scale of the maintenance challenge facing the authority. The figure highlights a significant backlog across the city’s roads, footways and wider infrastructure, at a time when demand for improved network conditions remains high from residents, businesses and visitors. The council manages around 800km of roads, 1,000km of footw

Civils, surfacing, and line-marking-firm Jointline’s rapid growth met one core challenge: every division had its own way of working. From RAMS to daily worksheets, processes were inconsistent, manual, and difficult to control at scale. Visibility was limited, audit trails varied, and managers were losing hours each week travelling to site to resolve issues. To break through these limits, Jointline adopted Re‑flow’s field management software, building one standardised, digital

A large-scale clean-up operation on the A12 near Colchester has highlighted the extent of litter on the UK’s road network, with nearly 14 tonnes of waste removed from a six-mile stretch. Colchester City Council carried out the four-night operation between junctions 26 and 29, deploying seven officers to clear litter and debris along the busy route. The team collected 3.7 tonnes of waste directly from the roadside, including 19 discarded tyres, 13 abandoned road signs and thre

A major £23 million scheme to upgrade Wakefield Road in Bradford has progressed to the next stage, although some original elements have been removed following further assessment. West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has approved an additional £1.28 million to develop a full business case for the project, with construction currently targeted to begin in February 2027 and complete by March 2028. The scheme is designed to enhance a key corridor into Bradford city centre, imp

North Northamptonshire Council is set to extend its highways maintenance contract with Kier by a further year, despite scrutiny over service performance and calls for improvement. At a recent place and environment scrutiny meeting, councillors were told that Kier’s performance had been “satisfactory”, though several areas requiring improvement were identified. These include customer service, communication with residents, and maintaining operational resilience—particularly dur

A detailed traffic management strategy has been unveiled for the North Hykeham Relief Road project, outlining how construction will be delivered while maintaining traffic flow and ensuring safety for road users and workers. Lincolnshire County Council said the approach has been designed to balance minimising disruption with enabling efficient delivery of the major infrastructure scheme. Councillor David East, executive member for highways, said the plan reflects a clear focus

Shropshire Council has agreed a one-year extension to its highways maintenance contract with Kier, taking the current arrangement through to April 2027. The extension supports the council’s ambition to develop a “mixed economy” delivery model, combining in-house services with external expertise to improve flexibility and local responsiveness. Under the revised approach, a greater proportion of services will return to direct council control, alongside increased use of local co

National Highways has assumed full responsibility for the A1(M) after the expiry and handback of its long-standing concession agreement. The contract, which ended on 31 March, had been operated by Road Management Group (RMG) since it was first awarded in 1996. RMG is majority owned by infrastructure investment firm HICL. Following the handback, the A1(M) will now be incorporated into National Highways’ regional operating model, aligning it with the management of the wider str

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is revising its planned improvements to Wandsworth Bridge Road after being required to return to the design stage following engagement with Transport for London (TfL). The scheme, first announced in summer 2025 with works expected to begin in August, has been delayed due to both extensive public feedback and the need for further consultation with TfL, as the route forms part of the Strategic Road Network. The council has now confirmed it is develo

Transport for London (TfL) has stressed that accessibility must be a core requirement in the deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs), particularly as trials expand across the capital. In a written response, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed that TfL is actively engaging with the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) on the development and testing of AV technology. While current national policy allows trials to take place

With London’s local elections scheduled for 7 May and the pre-election period underway, Brent Cycling Campaign has launched its Streets for Cycling initiative, calling on future council leaders to prioritise the delivery of safer cycling infrastructure. The campaign is urging candidates to commit to implementing a network of high-quality cycle routes already identified by Transport for London (TfL). These routes are considered key to increasing cycling uptake and come with po

Researchers at the University of Manchester have developed a new modelling tool that reveals how vehicle traffic contributes to rising temperatures in urban areas. Published in the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems , the physics-based model uses real-world traffic data from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and has been validated against historical datasets from both Manchester and Toulouse. The tool is designed to integrate with the Community Earth System M

The West Coast Main Line has reopened to passengers after six days of major railway improvements between Milton Keynes and London Euston. Today (Thursday 9 April) trains started running again after multiple projects to upgrade stations, tracks, signalling systems, overhead power lines and bridges took place, representing an ongoing investment of £46.7m. The journey-improving work carried out by Network Rail and its supply chain over the Easter period include: £8.4m replacing

Network Rail has said it “could and should have done better” after an employment tribunal found that a worker was subjected to sustained racial harassment by colleagues. The Southampton tribunal heard that Parmjit Bassi experienced a series of incidents while working at the Eastleigh depot in Hampshire, including the placement of an anti-Islam leaflet and a false accusation linking him to a stabbing, left in his work boots. The panel concluded that Mr Bassi had been subjected

A refreshed economic assessment of the proposed Western Rail Link to Heathrow (WRLtH) suggests the long-standing scheme is now more viable, citing reduced cost estimates, improved returns and increased potential for private sector investment. The proposed link would connect the Great Western Main Line at Langley to Heathrow Terminal 5 via a new tunnel, making use of two existing but unused underground platforms at the airport. Although classified as a Nationally Significant I