British Steel has won a £500m contract to supply rail tracks to Network Rail, securing jobs and safeguarding Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces. This five-year deal highlights the UK government’s efforts to protect domestic steelmaking amid national security concerns, industry uncertainties, and international trade pressures, while supporting infrastructure development and economic resilience.
British Steel has secured a major five-year contract valued at £500 million to supply railway tracks to Network Rail, providing a vital boost to the Scunthorpe steelworks and helping secure thousands of jobs. The agreement will see British Steel produce over 337,000 tonnes of rail, further cementing its long-standing role in supporting the UK’s rail infrastructure. This deal comes just two months after the UK government intervened using emergency powers to prevent the shutdown of Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces.
The government’s intervention followed concerns that Jingye, the Chinese company that acquired British Steel in 2020, intended to close the blast furnaces. British Steel described the new deal as a strong affirmation of confidence in British workers and the country’s industrial capabilities. Scunthorpe has been manufacturing rail since 1865, and this contract guarantees continued production at the site through at least 2030.
The new agreement, beginning July 1, ensures British Steel will continue supplying around 80% of Network Rail’s track requirements. The remainder will be fulfilled by European steelmakers producing specialist rail products. Network Rail’s director of railway business services, Clive Berrington, emphasized the company’s commitment to purchasing British products when economically viable, noting British Steel remains highly competitive and will continue as its main supplier.
Craig Harvey, British Steel’s commercial director for rail, highlighted that the agreement underlines the company’s strategic value to the UK’s infrastructure and economy. Although the government took temporary control of British Steel in April, it has not fully nationalized the firm. Officials are still weighing long-term options, including attracting private investment, with national security concerns surrounding the loss of domestic steel production capacity.
The Scunthorpe plant, which employs around 2,700 workers, is the UK’s sole remaining site producing virgin steel. It operates four blast furnaces named after historical English queens—Bess, Mary, Anne, and Victoria—with only Bess and Anne currently functional. If the blast furnaces are shut down and allowed to cool, restarting them would be prohibitively expensive and difficult, effectively ending the UK’s ability to produce virgin steel—a critical component for major infrastructure projects.
This deal also aligns with the government’s broader efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chains as part of its upcoming national infrastructure strategy. The announcement follows years of uncertainty in the UK’s steel industry, including the closure of Port Talbot’s blast furnaces in 2024 and ongoing pressures from international trade measures. Although the UK temporarily avoided increased U.S. steel tariffs under President Trump’s executive orders, the final deal did not include the expected removal of import charges.
