East West Railway Company, which is delivering the 120km Oxford–Cambridge East West Rail link including new sections between Bicester, Bletchley and Bedford, could be absorbed into Network Rail as part of the government’s review of arm’s length bodies ahead of establishing Great British Railways. Bringing EWR Co inside Network Rail would centralise control of route design, consents and future operations for the largely double‑track, 100mph‑design corridor. Any change in governance will affect procurement strategies, asset standards and interfaces with existing main lines at Oxford, Bletchley and Cambridge.

Unions Unite and GMB have condemned contractor behaviour at the Royston hydrogen gigafactory site in Hertfordshire after around 30 construction workers were reportedly suspended for raising health and safety concerns. The workforce had complained about site safety conditions on the large industrial build, which is expected to house hydrogen production and storage plant, before being removed from site. The dispute raises immediate questions for principal contractor and client CDM duties, worker consultation processes, and the robustness of on-site reporting channels for safety-critical issues.

National Grid has awarded two major contracts for Sea Link, a 140km subsea electricity interconnector between Kent and Suffolk designed to reinforce the UK transmission network. The project will require high‑voltage subsea cabling across the southern North Sea and new onshore converter infrastructure at each landfall to integrate offshore wind and other generation into the grid. Contractors will need to address marine geotechnical risk, cable burial depth, landfall HDD or trenching solutions, and interface with existing 400kV assets in constrained coastal corridors.