Rail replacement transport is not planned – and people are being advised to plan ahead

Work to upgrade a section of railway in South Gloucestershire is under way and will impact services in the region until August, Network Rail has confirmed.

Britain’s railway operator started the work in and around the Chipping Sodbury tunnel this week. To allow the work to take place, no trains will travel directly between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, with services diverted via Chippenham, adding 25 minutes to the journey.

Network Rail will be working in the area until Sunday, August 2, with further works on Saturday 8 and Sunday, August 9.

Only one train per hour will operate between London Paddington and South Wales but more trains will operate between London Paddington and Swindon.

Michael Pinkerton, Network Rail portfolio manager, said: “Our work will help keep trains running smoothly and safely and benefit passengers long into the future.

“We’ll be working day and night to complete the work, which will also help improve the railway’s resilience to extreme weather.”

The stretch of railway being upgraded is a “key section” of the Great Western mainline, Network Rail said, carrying trains at 125mph.

East of Chipping Sodbury tunnel, more than 3,000 yards of new rail, sleepers and ballast (track stone) will be laid and drainage channels will be cleared. Soil nails and netting will be installed on the cuttings to help prevent landslips onto the railway. The lining of the tunnel will also be repaired.

The work follows last year’s project to raise 200 metres of track by up to 20cm at the western end of the tunnel. Two of the four pumps near the tunnel were also replaced.

Marcus Deegan, GWR’s station manager for Swindon and Bristol Parkway, said: “The work planned will help maintain train services between London and South Wales using the Chipping Sodbury tunnel for years to come.

“Rail replacement transport is not planned as trains will still operate between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, however these will be reduced.

“It’s important customers are aware and plan ahead as these alternative travel arrangements will make their usual journey times longer.”

Sensex jumped over 550 points to 77,013, while Nifty 50 rose around 169 points to 24,051, as seen at 9.41 am. This came after Sensex and Nifty sharply crashed more than 2% on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said that the ceasefire with Iran was “over”.

Eternal shares were the top gainers on the Sensex, jumping more than 3%. Titan, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Trent, Asian Paints and other stocks rose more than 1% each to follow. Bucking the trend, IT stocks including Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra dropped up to 2%.

The renewed optimism came as India VIX, which measures volatility in the market, dropped more than 7% to 13.63 after skyrocketing 26% in the previous session. Broader markets also moved into the green, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices gaining up to 1%.

Sectorally, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Realty gained up to 2% to lead gains. Nifty IT, meanwhile, dropped 1.5% to lead the losses. The overall market breadth was positive, as NSE saw 2,211 advances and 405 declines, while 84 stocks remained unchanged.

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Oil prices rise
Oil prices continued to rise, with Brent crude futures nearing $79 per barrel after US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the interim agreement with Iran to end the war was “over”, stoking fears of a fresh escalation in the Middle East. “They are scum. They are sick people. They are led by sick people. As far as I am concerned, it is just a waste of time dealing with them,” Trump told reporters, spooking investors.

FII remain net buyers

Foreign investors continued to remain bullish on Dalal Street, remaining net buyers of Indian equities for the sixth consecutive session on Wednesday amid the market crash. They net purchased shares worth Rs 1,962.80 crore yesterday, according to provisional data on the NSE.

Rupee meanwhile opens at 95.55 against the US dollar, nearly unchanged from the previous closing level of 95.5550. “Market participants will continue tracking developments in the US-Iran conflict, crude oil prices, and global risk sentiment for further direction. Technically, the rupee is expected to trade in the 95.20–95.80 range in the near term, with volatility likely to remain elevated,” said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst of Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities.

What lies ahead?

Geopolitics has again played spoilsport with the Indian market, which has been slowly strengthening, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. He noted that Trump’s statement that the ceasefire with Iran is over triggered sharp selling in the market, shaving off 516 points from the Nifty yesterday, which is almost 50% of the recent gains.

“Long unwinding and fresh shorts might have played an important role in this sell-off. The spike in Brent crude to around $80 raised market concerns. However, there are market indications that things may not deteriorate as feared. First, Brent at $80 is not a problem. It won’t create a BoP crisis. The crisis will reemerge only if the tensions lead to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz again and consequently crude spiking above $ 100. The present futures do not reflect such a pessimistic scenario,” the analyst added.

Another important trend is that the trend of FIIs turning buyers continues, according to Vijayakumar. He added that this trend may continue if crude remains stable. Large caps generally, and in financials and automobiles in particular, are likely to remain resilient, as per the analyst.

Technical view on Nifty

Going forward, it will be crucial to watch whether the Nifty manages to hold the 23,800 support level, according to Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. He added that a decisive break below 23,800 could extend the ongoing corrective phase, while sustained trading above this level may pave the way for a meaningful recovery in the near term.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

For years, Southeast Asia has been an afterthought in the global robotics conversation, dwarfed by American innovation and Chinese manufacturing scale.

Key takeaways

• Singapore is establishing itself as Southeast Asia’s robotics hub, anchored by dConstruct’s $125 million raise and state-backed programs like RoboNexus.
• The region’s edge lies in commercialization and deployment rather than pure research or manufacturing, with government-built testbeds attracting partners like Nvidia, OpenAI, Grab, and DHL.
• Deal flow across Neptune Robotics, BeeX, Augmentus, and Amity shows momentum, but the open question is whether these startups can scale globally and deliver real exits.

But a string of recent funding rounds and acquisitions suggests the region is quietly building its own niche, and Singapore is emerging as its unmistakable center of gravity, according to reporting from Jon Russell’s Asia Tech Review newsletter.

A Record-Setting Raise

The clearest signal came last week when Singapore-based dConstruct closed a $125 million funding round, one of the largest robotics investments Southeast Asia has ever seen, and an unusually large Series A for a company at that stage. The five-year-old startup builds 3D mapping technology designed to give robots, drones and vehicles better spatial navigation.

dConstruct’s success also serves as an early proof point for RoboNexus, the venture-building accelerator run under Singapore’s National Robotics Programme; the company emerged from the accelerator’s very first cohort. It isn’t the only graduate turning heads. Spinoff Robotics, which builds drone-based tools for cleaning and inspecting industrial infrastructure, was recently acquired by Nanoveu, an Australia-listed AI and automation firm. The deal’s financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the acquisition is described as a meaningful milestone both for the accelerator and for Singapore’s broader push to become a robotics hub.

A Strategy Built on Deployment, Not Invention

Rather than competing head-on with US research labs or Chinese manufacturing might, Singapore appears to be carving out an edge in commercialization, taking existing robotics research and pushing it into real-world use. That strategy crystallized in May, when the government unveiled a national AI strategy alongside a new Nvidia robotics lab, an OpenAI-run AI lab, and a dedicated testbed for companies developing robotics applications in delivery, cleaning, and related industries. Early partners in that testbed include Grab, DHL, and Chinese robotics maker Unitree.

That same deployment-first mindset runs through the rest of the region’s recent deal flow. Neptune Robotics raised $52 million for its ship-hull-cleaning robots and is pouring fresh investment into a Singapore manufacturing base. BeeX secured $7.7 million for underwater inspection drones. Augmentus raised $11 million to simplify how robots are programmed for tasks like surface finishing and welding. And in Thailand, hospitality-robotics firm Amity closed a $7 million round for its concierge robots.

The Open Question

Taken together, the deals paint a picture of a region finding commercial traction by turning laboratory-stage robotics into deployable products, with Singapore’s state-backed programs doing much of the heavy lifting. What remains unresolved, per the report, is whether these companies can eventually deliver meaningful exits and scale beyond Southeast Asia, rather than simply continuing to attract a steady stream of early-stage capital.

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Curtin University has partnered with Octave Intelligence in an initiative to tackle the skills shortage in the construction sector, becoming the first institution to sign up to the program.

The Bentley-based university will integrate Octave’s OnSite Visualize software, which allows students to work with the same professional tools used in the industry, into some construction and built environment units.

Octave NextGen Builders Program aims to give students practical, hands-on experience through the full process of infrastructure projects, from design and construction to operation.

Curtin University will be the US-based software company’s first partner in rolling out the program, according to Octaves Asia-Pacific (APAC) principal industry consultant Jeff Sharp.

“We’ve had a really good relationship with Curtin for a fair while now,” he said.

“They use some of our products already, and this was seen as an opportunity to really grow that relationship and have Curtin as the first partner.

“We see Curtin as the inaugural partner in this NextGen Builders program, but we’re currently talking with other universities through APAC, and we’re quite keen to grow this because we think it’s quite an important initiative.”

Curtin University construction Management course coordinator Vasilios Papastamoulis and Associate School of Design and the Built Environment head Jeremy Wu are co-leading the integration of the program over the next few years.

“This partnership equips our students with in-demand digital skills and real-world experience, while highlighting the vital role careers in construction and infrastructure play in shaping Australia’s future,” Dr Papastamoulis said.

“Students participating in the program will learn how to transform complex Building Information Modelling (BIM) data into construction-ready work packages. 

“Using industry-standard software they will combine and review federated models to detect and resolve clashes, producing well-coordinated models that support improved project sequencing, coordination and efficiency.”

Octave APAC vice president Fabio Yada said the program responded to workforce shortages and the changing nature of modern infrastructure delivery.

“Critical industries are facing a dual challenge: a growing skills shortage and an ageing workforce, combined with the need to attract a new generation of digitally minded talent,” he said.

“The NextGen Builders Program is about making sure graduates are ready for the reality of modern projects, where decisions across design, construction and operations are increasingly interconnected, but also about demonstrating that careers in these industries are innovative, high-tech and genuinely exciting.”

Mr Sharp said the skill shortage issue was not only in construction but also affects the oil and gas and mining sector.

“What we’re seeing is young people coming in, replacing this generation with all this knowledge in their head who did things in an analog way,” he said.

“What we see this partnership is doing is training students to use digital tools, digital processes that they will see in the workplace, so they can come in more job ready with a better skill base.”