THIS year’s Rail Live has been cancelled. The rail industry event had been planned to take place at Long Marston in Warwickshire on 9 and 10 September.

The organisers have blamed ‘the uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 restrictions’. Some media reports have been suggesting that a wider lockdown could return next month.

Plans had been made in any case to move the event to a virtual platform over the two days, but it has emerged that ‘the rail industry would prefer not to go ahead with the event this year’.

The organisers added that they would now ‘redouble all our efforts for a bigger and better Rail Live 2021, when the event is planned to return to its home at Long Marston’.

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy added: ‘In the circumstances, it’s a wise decision to shelve the proposed Rail Live for this year in favour of putting every effort into creating a real showstopper Rail Live for 2021. Network Rail continues to support Rail Live 100 per cent, and we're already talking to the RAIL team about how NR can help make the show the very best Rail Live yet.’