Overview
With planning underway for HS3, this seminar will discuss the future of the UK’s rail projects.
With policymakers considering the future for investment and the direction of policy on devolution - and more widely - following the EU referendum, delegates will discuss recommendations in the Shaw report on the future of Network Rail which looked at railway electrification, organisational and regulatory structures, new funding options for meeting growth in freight and passenger demand, highlighted workforce skills and diversity issues, and made recommendations on routes in the North of England.
Further discussion will focus on Crossrail, due to be delivered late in 2018, and key lessons to be learnt for future projects such as HS3 or Crossrail 2. Delegates will also analyse the implications of the recent report on HS2 by the National Audit Office, particularly regarding its concerns on meeting projected timescales.
We are delighted that Paul Plummer, Chief Executive Officer, Rail Delivery Group and Association of Train Operating Companies; Rebecca Sheeran, Director, Value for Money, Transport, National Audit Office; David Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Transport for the North; Dr Andrew Smith, Research Group Leader for Economics and Discrete Choice, Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds; Laura Shoaf, Managing Director, Transport for West Midlands and a speaker confirmed from GB Railfreight have agreed to speak at this conference.
We are pleased that Louise Ellman MP, Chair, Transport Select Committee and Rt Hon the Baroness Kramer, former Minister of State, Department for Transport have agreed to chair part of this seminar.