18-19 June 2025
Porterbrook’s Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre
Network Rail's Supply Chain Operations village at Rail Live 2019
This year sees the introduction of a new Network Rail village at Rail Live, featuring live and static machine demonstrations, a welfare van and lorry from its road fleet, before and after examples of Switches and Crossings (S&C) refurbished at its Whitemoor facility and much more.
The new village in Zones K and J will include the largest vehicles from Network Rail’s extensive fleet: one of its High Output ballast cleaning systems and its Kirow crane.
Measuring up to half-a-mile long, High Output ballast cleaners travel the length and breadth of the country to clean and replace worn ballast, helping to keep the track stable, safe and prolong the asset’s life, ensuring a more sustainable railway. At Rail Live, visitors will be able to see one up close in a first-ever static demo. Ballast Cleaning System 3 will be set up as it is during its ballast cleaning delivery, giving the audience an appreciation and visual of what the ballast cleaning process involves, from cutting and cleaning the ballast to the removal of waste, delivery of new ballast and the follow-up work of the tamper to reinstate the track to line speed.
Plus: Meet Network Rail's Air Operations team
Elsewhere on site at Rail Live, visitors can meet Network Rail’s Air Operations team for a ground-based demonstration of the high-tech cameras and equipment they use to deliver aerial surveys for their customers. This will include the helicopter-mounted cameras as well as visuals of the data pre- and post-processing for a better understanding of the ways it can be used to improve railway management and maintenance. The team will also have some of their drones on display and will be available for more information.
Rail Live was once again the premier railway exhibition to attend. Rolling stock, plant, people, techniques – always a showstopper! Rail Live is consistently the best opportunity for everyone in the railway family to widen their networks, knowledge and understanding of the rail industry.
Rail Live is a truly notable event for all people with a professional rail interest, not only those involved with rail plant and track working. Having RAIL take over the organisation and promotion of the show has made it possible for Rail Live to become a ‘Farnborough for the Railway’, and an event that is now well and truly in the international rail calendar.
Some impressive tech on display at the @RAIL #RailLive2023 today - including digital temporary speed restriction signs, composite platforms from and even a @BostonDynamics robot dog! (I have no idea whether the @BTPDogs met robodog...).
I would encourage you to get around and talk to as many people as you can, because in my visit I genuinely have spoken to people I would never have seen before. That’s one of the joys of this dynamic, and it’s why I’m a real passionate supporter of Rail Live.
Rail Live is an unmissable event for SMEs like us to connect with passionate industry leaders and suppliers. The event has become a staple in our calendar, and is a fantastic opportunity to incept exciting project collaborations and partnerships. We're highly anticipating this year's event, and look forward to taking in the diverse breadth of rail expertise on offer!
Rail Live is a key event for Thomas Graham as an industrial supplier, it is a great opportunity to exhibit our range of products to the rail industry, speak to key contacts, that under normal conditions wouldn’t be accessible and we have been able to exhibit our specialised calibrated lockers, which have been a great success with some sizeable orders.
Rail Live 2023 was Trough-Tec System’s and HIRD Group’s best Rail Live yet! It’s the only show where we can truly showcase and demonstrate our entire product portfolio in such a practical manner, and to such a diverse audience of customers and end-users.
Network Rail is really pleased to continue to support Rail Live 2024. However, pre-election restrictions on public bodies mean that Network Rail won't be able to take part in any speaking slots this year. Our team, including Andrew Haines, Network Rail Chief Executive, will still attend in force.
The Network Rail Village will still have lots of exhibits across multiple zones, including safety, technology, and vehicle demos, so please do come and say hello. Our team are still pleased to speak to you, just not in a formal, recorded manor.
We're all looking forward to seeing you there!