Grab your name badge, breakfast and start your networking early

Relaying the track to the future for the Midlands

Rail’s role in shaping the future

Across the Midlands there are plenty of projects for industry to be involved with, Midlands Rail Hub, HS2, and freight are just some of the major headline projects for heavy rail and in light rail, there are line expansions as well as upgrades of rolling stock and technology. Listen to Karen, Head of Rail at Midlands Connect explain the opportunities.

This keynote will focus on the East Midlands' potential economic rise, driven by the Government's £1.5 billion funding for regional devolution. The investment aims to create jobs and opportunities through projects like extending the Nottingham Tram system and improving transport links, including a potential revival of the Maid Marion Line. This funding is expected to enhance connectivity, reduce congestion, and promote sustainable transport options, setting the stage for a promising future in the region.

A discussion to gain a better common understanding of the factors that contribute to rail resilience and how these can be achieved in practice. Improving resilience increases the ability of rail systems to withstand potential threats and recover quickly from disruptive or extraordinary events.

• Sharon Lee, Director, Arup
• Faye Beaman, Associate Director, Arup
• Tim Norton, Head of Rail Resilience and Response, Department for Transport
  
  

The Evolution of Control of Work Processes

With freight and passenger numbers increasing on the UK’s railways, the need to ensure the safety of both the travelling public and workers across the railway network has never been more important.

Other industries have also had the same drive to look at safe working practices, mainly driven by their own accidents and incidents. So, a key question is whether lessons learned from those incidents can be applied to the rail industry and if so, what benefits can those lessons learned bring.

Yokogawa will present advancements in safe digital Control of Work, highlighting their applicability across diverse industries and ensuring risk assessment is at the heart of any safety process and thereby placing hazard mitigation, visibility, and communication at the forefront of safety excellence.

Grab a coffee, mid morning snack and a fist full of business cards during the second networking opportunity of the day

Alex is Phase 2b Development Director at HS2 who be discussing the implications and opportunities for the Midlands following the cancellation of the Manchester connection, sharing insights into the plans and potential opportunities in this context.

The Midlands Rail Alliance is a partnership between Balfour Beatty, Mott MacDonald and Skanska.

This panel discussion will explore how, in today’s world where major projects have a reputation for being over-cost and over-budget, we need to think more pragmatically about how projects are designed and delivered. The panel will explore the benefits of efficient delivery, and how it can be used to deliver tangible – long lasting benefits for the community, customer and supply chain. The panel will be made up of diverse mix of viewpoints, including designers, legacy lead and project delivery bodies.

• Tim Fawcett, Birmingham Cities Lead, Mott MacDonald
• David Edwards, Project Technical Director, Skanska
• Dr Alasdair MacDonald, Regional Director for Wales, North and Central, Balfour Beatty
• Helene Berthonneau, Environmental Manager, Skanska
  
  

Alison is leading the development of accessibility and inclusion strategy and policy for Great British Railways Transition Team, supporting the aims of the William Shapps plan for Rail, paving the way for a simpler, better railway for everyone in Great Britain.

Grab your lunch, talk to the speakers about how you can help with their challenges and network with new customers

Where better journeys begin - making the case for 21st-century connectivity.

It is commonly accepted that communities with better access to transport links perform better across almost every metric, including education, employment and Gross Value Added (GVA). The case for new transport links to act as the catalyst for generation doesn’t need to be built on the back of existing success areas. So, how can the Midlands Engine make the case for better transport links? More importantly, how can we, in the supply chain, learn global lessons to change how we deliver and make projects (such as Midlands Rail Hub, the Midlands metro expansion and TriLink) affordable in times of global fiscal pressure?

• Darren Jowett Head of Technical Policy and Strategy at Network Rail
• Vaibhav Puri, Director of Sector Strategy and Transformation, Rail Safety & Standards Board
  
• Adam Parkinson, Transport Practice Lead, Digital Catapult

Central Route, the heart of the railway

Martin will be discussing the challenges of operating today’s railway, our plans for the next five-year control period and what help we need in the future to deliver for passengers and freight users

Apprentcieships in the rail industry are as important as any other strategy to keep the railway alive. Each year, more young people choose the railway as a career. In this panel we will ask a handful of the apprentices to join us on stage to talk with us about their experiences and why they chose the rail industry as their vocation.

• Edwin Russell, Project Manager Apprentice, Network Rail
• Alexander Christie, Undergraduate Engineer, WSP
• Charlie Hudson, Associate Project Management Apprentice, Amey
• Agata Otto, Apprentice - Civil Engineering, Systra

Connecting Cities – Rail Strategy in the Midlands

How do we improve transport to make the Midlands fairer, greener and stronger? What is stopping cities from delivering higher-productivity jobs? Where can we improve links between cities to help drive economic growth? How should we electrify trains to deliver on net zero by 2050, and how do we get more freight on the railway and off the roads? Hear about how Midlands Connect proposes to address these issues, and help set out an agenda for the new government.

Of late the UK has seen back-to-back storms which has impacted travel including trains. As an industry we collectively have a duty to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Whilst rail is seen as the cleanest of travel modes, there is still much to be done to ensure net zero emissions are met. Technology can help achieve net zero emissions but how does the rail industry tackle the effects of the changing climate? Heavy rainfall, extreme heat can all damage the railway infrastructure. Network Rail published Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation (WRCCA) plans to cover the period 2019-2024, with the recent weather changes, do these plans need updating?

Here to discuss how the railway tackles climate change are:

• George Davies, Director of Sustainability, RSSB 
• Richard Mann, Rail Strategy Lead Midlands Connect
  
• Rachel Allison Climate Change Specialist at HS2 

Jon is the Regional Partnerships Director at GBRTT .Jon will discuss the challenges and the importance of strong collaborations in delivering a reformed and interconnected railway. With a focus on working closely with partners like the West Midlands Rail Executive, Jon explores the vision of GBRTT for future regional partnerships. The talk emphasises tailored collaborations to align with the region's ambitions and highlights working with Midlands Connect and broader regional opportunities for the industry.