Railfuture Conferences and Webinars

This page is showing details for a single Railfuture past event. To see details of many of our past events and future events please click HERE.

---

Selected past event

2023/Leeds - ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE [link]

• Thu 30/03/2023 Turning Point for the Railway
• The railway needs to understand and influence what politicians want from it, including how to structure it to make it much more effective. Where should the focus of campaigners for a bigger, better, railway be? The railway can be a highly effective contributor to decarbonisation, to levelling up and as part of many wider initiatives — but only if it is successful in attracting passengers and freight to use the railway. The post-Covid railway can no longer rely on commuters who 'have' to travel to work each day — who can replace them? Our conference provided an opportunity to pause and reflect on this.
• This conference was dedicated to the memory of William Whiting, who helped to organise this event and was a widely respected rail campaigner

• 'What do we want the railways to look like in the future?'

• It was held at St George's Centre, 60 Great George Street, Leeds LS1 3DL
• Timings: 09.15-10.15 Arrivals - tea/coffee/pastries; 10.15-12.45 Morning session; 12.45-13.45 Lunch; 13.45-16.30 Afternoon session to include a workshop for all attendees

CONFERENCE MATERIALS:

• Read an [Article] about the conference — Railfuture's Annual National Conference still coming to Leeds despite strikes (Rail Business Daily on 17/03/2023)

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS (AND THEIR PRESENTATIONS):

• About the speakers: [Read Speaker Biographies]

• Nick Flynn and Abby Taylor , Family Friendly Trains (talked about: Campaign to make trains more family friendly)
• Stewart Palmer, Vice President and Director, Railfuture (talked about: Railfuture's view on whether the railway is working for passengers)
• Karen Bennett , Education and Youth Engagement Advisor, Community Rail Lancashire (talked about: How young people can be engaged in the railways)
• Phil Smart, Assistant Policy Manager, Rail Freight Group (talked about: Rail's role in the future movement of freight)
• Dr Manuel Ojeda Cabral, Senior Research Fellow in Transport Economics and Appraisal, University of Leeds (talked about: The value of new railway lines and stations)
• Craig Alexander, replaced Alison Smith, Head of Accessibility and Inclusion, Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) (talked about: where GBRTT is currently)
• Conference Chair: Brian Barnsley , Deputy Chief Executive of Community Rail Network and Head of Support and Development, Community Rail Network
• The above speakers have confirmed their availability for the new conference date, although they may provide a substitute in their place