diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2db824d02..98f4988ce 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ name: Release
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
 
+env:
+    postgis: 3
+    vroom: 1.12.0
 
 jobs:
   release:
@@ -14,37 +17,30 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
+      - name: Initialize mandatory git config
+        run: |
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+
       - name: Get postgres version
         run: |
           sudo service postgresql start
-          PGVER=$(psql --version | grep -Po '(?<=psql \(PostgreSQL\) )[^;]+(?=\.\d \()')
+          PGVER=$(psql --version | grep -Po '(?<=psql \(PostgreSQL\) )[^;]+(?=\.\d+ \()')
           PROJECT_VERSION=$(grep -Po '(?<=project\(VRPROUTING VERSION )[^;]+' CMakeLists.txt)
           echo "PGVER=${PGVER}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           echo "PGPORT=5432" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "PGIS=3" >> $GITHUB_ENV
           echo "PROJECT_VERSION=${PROJECT_VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo "VROOMVER=1.12.0" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-      - name: Verify Tag Name
+      - name: Create and Push Tag
         run: |
-          TAG_NAME=${GITHUB_REF#refs/*/}
-          echo "TAG_NAME=${TAG_NAME}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-          echo ${TAG_NAME}
-          echo ${PROJECT_VERSION}
-          if [ "${TAG_NAME}" != "v${PROJECT_VERSION}" ]; then
-            echo "Tag name should be v${PROJECT_VERSION}"
-            exit 1
-          fi
-
-      - name: Extract branch name
-        run: |
-          raw=$(git branch -r --contains ${{ github.ref }})
-          branch=${raw##*/}
-          echo "BRANCH=$branch" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+          git tag -a "v${PROJECT_VERSION}" -m "Release version ${PROJECT_VERSION}"
+          git push origin "v${PROJECT_VERSION}"
+        env:
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Add PostgreSQL APT repository
         run: |
@@ -54,7 +50,7 @@ jobs:
             $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list'
 
       - name: Install python
-        uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
           python-version: '3.x'
 
@@ -63,8 +59,8 @@ jobs:
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get install -y \
             postgresql-${PGVER} \
-            postgresql-${PGVER}-postgis-${PGIS} \
-            postgresql-${PGVER}-postgis-${PGIS}-scripts \
+            postgresql-${PGVER}-postgis-${{ env.postgis }} \
+            postgresql-${PGVER}-postgis-${{ env.postgis }}-scripts \
             postgresql-server-dev-${PGVER} \
             graphviz \
             doxygen
@@ -76,35 +72,41 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           sudo apt-get install libssl-dev libasio-dev libglpk-dev
 
+      - name: Install Google OR-Tools dependencies
+        run: |
+          sudo pip install --root=/  ortools
+
       - name: Cache VROOM
         id: cache-vroom
-        uses: actions/cache@v2
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
         env:
           cache-name: vroom
         with:
-          path: |
-            ~/vroom-${{ env.VROOMVER }}
-          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ env.VROOMVER }}
+          path: vroom-${{ env.vroom }}
+          key: ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ env.vroom }}
+
+      - name: Checkout VROOM
+        if: steps.cache-vroom.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          path: vroom-${{ env.vroom }}
+          repository: VROOM-Project/vroom
+          ref: "v${{ env.vroom }}"
+          submodules: true
 
       - name: Build VROOM
         if: steps.cache-vroom.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         run: |
-          git clone --depth 1 --branch v${{ env.VROOMVER }} https://github.com/VROOM-Project/vroom ~/vroom-${{ env.VROOMVER }}
-
-          # init the required submodules
-          cd ~/vroom-${{ env.VROOMVER }}/
-          git submodule update --init
-
-          # Using "shared" target for creating Position Independent Code, disabling use of routing
-          cd ~/vroom-${{ env.VROOMVER }}/src
+          cd vroom-${{ env.vroom }}/src
           USE_ROUTING=false make shared
 
       - name: Configure
         run: |
           export PATH=/usr/lib/postgresql/${PGVER}/bin:$PATH
+          VROOM=$(pwd)/vroom-${{ env.vroom }}
           mkdir build
           cd build
-          cmake -DPOSTGRESQL_VERSION=${PGVER} -DDOC_USE_BOOTSTRAP=ON -DWITH_DOC=ON -DBUILD_DOXY=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DES=ON -DVROOM_INSTALL_PATH=$HOME/vroom-${{ env.VROOMVER }} ..
+          cmake -DPOSTGRESQL_VERSION=${PGVER} -DDOC_USE_BOOTSTRAP=ON -DWITH_DOC=ON -DBUILD_DOXY=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DES=ON -DVROOM_INSTALL_PATH=${VROOM} ..
 
       - name: Build
         run: |
@@ -114,11 +116,6 @@ jobs:
           sudo make install
           make doxy
 
-      - name: Initialize mandatory git config
-        run: |
-          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
-          git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
-
       - name: Update Users Documentation
         run: |
           git checkout origin/gh-pages
@@ -149,10 +146,10 @@ jobs:
           tar -zcvf doc-v${PROJECT_VERSION}-en.tar.gz doc-v${PROJECT_VERSION}-en
 
           cd ../..
-          grep -Pzo "(?s)v${PROJECT_VERSION//./\\.} Release Notes.*?(?=v.\..\.. Release Notes)" NEWS | tr '\0' '\n' > release_body.txt
+          grep -Pzo "(?s)v${PROJECT_VERSION//./\\.} Release Notes.*?(?=v.\..\.. Release Notes)" NEWS.md | tr '\0' '\n' > release_body.txt
 
           # Only executed during the first release
-          grep -q '[^[:space:]]' < release_body.txt || cp NEWS release_body.txt
+          grep -q '[^[:space:]]' < release_body.txt || cp NEWS.md release_body.txt
 
           echo >> release_body.txt
           echo "**Attachments**" >> release_body.txt