Earlier this year, the UK’s Urban Transport Group published a new report assessing the benefits of greater devolution to local authorities for the country's railway stations. The report comes at a crucial moment, when the network is being prepped for a “root-and-branch” review of its services. We investigate how devolution could work in this scenario.

Our interactive feature decodes the world’s most complicated metro maps, exploring how these networks have expanded over the years and how their unique designs help passengers navigate these underground mazes.

We also hop on board the Rocky Mountaineer, the Canadian rail-tour company offering stunning vacation packages on four rail routes through British Columbia, Alberta, and the US state of Washington, and chat with the brains behind Fetch.AI, a blockchain and AI start-up which specialises in deploying ‘autonomous agents’ on various networks.

Finally, we round up the innovation priorities for train engines, and talk to Deutsche Bahn about its early adoption of 3D printing technology.

Read on for all this and ­­­­join the conversation on Twitter.

Eva Grey, editor