Channel Tunnel owner Eurotunnel is cancelling all planned UK rail infrastructure investments after warning its business rates are set to almost triple from 2026, describing the increase as “unparalleled” for a single asset. The company, which operates the 50 km fixed link between Folkestone and Coquelles and handles both high-speed passenger and freight traffic, says the tax shock undermines the business case for new terminals, sidings and capacity upgrades. For UK rail engineers, this signals potential delays to cross-Channel capacity enhancements and associated track, signalling and terminal works on the British side.

A 15m-diameter vertical shaft sinking machine, claimed as Europe’s largest of its type, has started excavating at National Grid’s Tilbury site to construct a new cable tunnel beneath the River Thames between Tilbury and Gravesend. The shaft will form the main access and cable route for replacing a 1960s transmission tunnel, enabling modern high-voltage circuits to be installed at greater depth and with improved flood resilience. Contractors will need to manage large excavation volumes, groundwater control and segmental lining tolerances for a very wide, deep vertical shaft in complex Thames alluvium and terrace gravels.

Knighthead Capital Management has unveiled concept images for a new 62,000‑seat Birmingham City FC stadium within the proposed Birmingham Sports Quarter at Bordesley Green. The large-capacity bowl will be the centrepiece of a wider mixed-use redevelopment, with the scale implying major transport, geotechnical and utilities upgrades on a constrained urban site. Early-stage design decisions on structural framing, roof span and crowd circulation will be critical for meeting Premier League and UEFA standards while managing buildability and phased construction around existing infrastructure.