Over 7,000 rail professionals attended Rail Live at the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre in June for the UK’s largest outdoor rail exhibition.

Those who have attended the event before may have noticed an updated layout to the site as Porterbrook is well underway with major upgrades, including the construction of a 3.5km electrified test track.

Visitors to the Porterbrook marquee had the opportunity to visualise this through VR technology, jumping into the virtual driver’s cab to see what it will be like to drive on the UK’s only continuous test loop.

For attendees wanting to find out more, Porterbrook COO Ben Ackroyd was in the Engineering Theatre to discuss the key role Long Marston will play to support the introduction of new fleets to the railway in the future.

As part of the upgrades, Porterbrook completed a baseline assessment to achieve a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) by improving existing habitats and creating new ones.

To demonstrate the work to support this, visitors were able to take a biodiversity walk around the site with Dr Neil Strong, Network Rail’s Biodiversity Strategy Manager.

Also on display during Rail Live was HydroFLEX, with a brand-new livery to celebrate Railway 200. On board, visitors heard from the Porterbrook team who have worked on the development and testing of the train, toured the hydrochamber, and participated in The Hydrogen Challenge.

Back for a second year was the popular Primary Engineer challenge which teamed up 30 Warwickshire school students with VIPs from across the rail industry and local community.

From the British Transport Police to the Department for Business and Trade, the children were able to engage with and learn from representatives across varied industries.

Always a highlight in the Porterbrook marquee is the ice cream, which many enjoyed over the hot two days while speaking to the team from the National Railway Museum. To mark Railway 200, the museum showcased a series of Railway Firsts, highlighting the stories that have shaped the industry.