A report into the condition and usage of almost 9,000km of France’s railways painted a bleak picture about the prospects of the country’s rural lines, highlighting high running costs and extremely low ridership rates. We ask: what does the future look like for these railways, and can they ever be saved?

Earlier this year, Deutsche Bahn unveiled its latest innovation: the Advanced TrainLab, a four-car laboratory vehicle available to the rail sector across Germany for testing futuristic digital technologies. We profile the specialist train to find out what features it’s currently testing out.

We also look at the state of Spanish railways, after the European Commission issued a formal notice to Spain for failing to meet EU requirements for rail safety, and ask: is there something rotten at the core of Spanish rail accident investigations?

Finally, we round up the world’s top rail technology exporters, as well as the most popular train fare concepts, and talk to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers about the state and future of hydrogen on UK’s railways.