The US is gearing up to welcome its first ever ‘true’ high-speed rail network in Texas. We profile the project and explore how Japanese technology is being used to power the line’s trains, which is set to shift passengers between Dallas and Houston at 200mph.

On the other end of the spectrum, we explore whether the Turin-Lyon high speed railway project could be dead in the water, with populist party the Five Star Movement and a negative report commissioned by the Italian Government posing severe hurdles.

Metro railway systems receive a double dose of analysis in this edition; we identify the London Underground’s most stressful tube stations, and explore what the world’s major metros look like when they are projected onto above-ground photos of their corresponding cities. Plus, we analyse whether driver-only trains could pose a public safety risk after protests called on the UK’s Department for Transport to keep train guards on-board.

Finally, we examine the biggest takeaways from the EU’s most recent report on digitalisation on the railways, and explore the ambition and technologies behind the world’s longest undersea train tunnel project.