The Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre will host over 7,000 rail professionals next week as Rail Live returns for 2025.

On Wednesday 18th June and Thursday 19th June, attendees will be able to network, attend live demonstrates, visit the latest rail innovations, and hear from industry experts.

There will be several Porterbrook events and displays that guests can visit and take part in including:

Visualise the UK’s only continuous test loop at the Porterbrook marquee

Jump into the virtual driver’s cab and see what it will be like to drive on the UK’s only continuous test loop, currently being built right here at the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre.

Step on board HydroFLEX, the UK’s first and only heavy-rail hydrogen passenger train

On board HydroFLEX, with its brand-new livery in celebration of Railway 200, you can hear from the Porterbrook team who have worked on its development and testing to understand how the technology works, participate in The Hydrogen Challenge in the train’s “Boardroom” carriage, and book onto an exclusive tour of the hydrochamber.

Watch Primary Engineer’s Rail Live Challenge

Back for a second year, this popular event – delivered in partnership with Primary Engineer which helps to inspire young people to pursue careers in engineering - teams up VIPs from across the rail industry and local community with children from Warwickshire primary schools to compete in a fun engineering challenge live on stage.  

Day 1 | Wednesday 18th June | 11:30 – 12:15

Day 2 | Thursday 19th June | 12:15 – 13:00

Join Porterbrook COO Ben Ackroyd to hear about a new era of railway testing

Hear from Porterbrook’s Chief Operating Officer Ben Ackroyd about the development of the UK’s only continuous test loop here at the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre, and the key role that the site will play to support the introduction of new fleets to the railway in the future.  

Day 1 | Wednesday 18th June | 14:15 – 15:00

Celebrate the National Railway Museum’s 50th Birthday

To mark Railway 200, the National Railway Museum have collected a series of Railway Firsts, highlighting the stories that have shaped the railway. In the Porterbrook marquee you can discover a selection of these firsts, as well as an interactive challenge where you can test your engineering skills. This year also marks the 50th birthday of the National Railway Museum, and you’re invited to join the celebration in the Porterbrook marquee.

Explore Long Marston’s biodiversity with Network Rail

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

To demonstrate the work that will be developed we will be running hourly biodiversity walks with Dr Neil Strong, Network Rail Biodiversity Strategy Manager, on the hour from 10:00 – 15:00 lasting up to 45 minutes.