The leading event for the UK rail industry
10 March 2020
Hilton Tower Bridge, Tooley Street, London
Get up to speed on the most pressing issues facing the British rail industry – the event which offers unique access to leading figures from TOCs, ROSCOs, Network Rail and a whole host of transport bodies from across the UK.
Following the highly-anticipated Williams Review and HS2 Review, Accelerate: Rail 2020 comes at a water-shed moment for the rail industry to reflect on the significance of 2019 and CP6, and make progressive strides towards the future. Join us in March 2020 to explore key themes including:
Customer experience
Unpack the phrase ‘Put Passengers First’ – learn from Transport Focus and the Rail Delivery Group and be inspired by leaders such as Southeastern, who have been unafraid to break the status quo and deliver unprecedented results for their customers.
Regional devolution
Get an update on CP6’s new regional model from Network Rail‘s CEO, hear about vertical integration from Transport for Wales and take home insights from powerful Northern leaders on how you can increase regional accountability and engage local decision making.
De-carbonisation
Sustainability, investing in alternative fuels and going green is high on everyone’s agenda – don’t miss these honest sessions from Lilian Greenwood MP, Transport Scotland and Porterbrook about making green choices for future generations.
The future of ticketing
Two new and exclusive case studies from LNER’s Fare Reform and Trainline’s CEO speaking about the role of AI in the ticketing experience – find out how you can use live tweets to predict disruption and big data to predict price rises for journeys.
The Digital Railway
Technology is overhauling rail infrastructure and planning strategically for future technological innovation is imperative. Unmissable insights from Banedenmark and the National Skills Academy Rail will show you how to attract a skilled, gender-balanced workforce to construct the Digital Railway, and how you can implement a digital railway across the entire rail network.
Mobility-as-a-Service
Look beyond the tracks and seek to understand how rail will link up with other modes of public transport in the future. Presentations from Transport for West Midlands and ViaVan will explore how TOCs can meet evolving passenger expectations for seamless travel, including collaborating with firms such as Uber to provide ‘first and last mile’ services.
Speakers
Andrew Haines
Chief Executive Officer, Network Rail
Lilian Greenwood MP
Chair, Transport Select Committee
Clare Gilmartin
Chief Executive Officer, Trainline
John Larkinson
Chief Executive Officer, Office of Rail and Road
Steve Montgomery
Managing Director - Rail, First Group
Tim Shoveller
Regional Managing Director for North West and Central, Network Rail
Steve White
Chief Operating Officer, GTR
Dyan Crowther
Chief Executive Officer, High Speed 1
Agenda
With three tracks covering six key topics, we are making sure you can tailor your programme to tackle your most urgent objectives.
Personalise your agenda below:
- All Topics
Accelerate: Rail Conference Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Providing answers - the Williams Review and CP6
Interview
Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Network Rail
- One year in: what have been the greatest successes of CP6 so far and what does the future hold?
- ‘Putting passengers first’: has customer service become an ingrained ethos at Network Rail?
- How will Network Rail ensure the success of CP6 devolution and increased regional accountability?
- Frustration with franchising: do we finally have a solution that works for stakeholders?
Andrew Haines
Chief Executive Officer , Network Rail
Making the future of UK Rail a reality
Charlotte Warburton
Global Head of Rail , PA Consulting
Leaders’ forum
Reforming rail: increasing trust and performance
- What progress has been made since the publication of the Williams Review last autumn?
- How will the recommendations from the Williams Review impact different players in rail?
- In concrete terms, what are the plans going forwards to implement the Review’s recommendations?
- What is the right level of Government involvement in day-to-day operations of the rail industry?
- Would greater ‘vertical integration’ between track and train improve the UK system?
- Does the new system encourage more long-term investment from the private sector?
- How can cross-industry collaboration facilitate change and find solutions?
Andrew Haines
Chief Executive Officer , Network Rail
Steve Montgomery
Managing Director - Rail , First Group
Dyan Crowther
Chief Executive Officer , High Speed 1
Steve White
Chief Operating Officer , GTR
Tom Joyner
Managing Director , CrossCountry Trains
Click here for our tracks: The Digital Railway | Regional Devolution | The future of ticketing
A collaborative process: the digital journey
- How can new track-side technology increase efficiency and capacity?
- How can we make sure that the system is flexible to incorporate evolving technology in the future?
- What are the main challenges of standardising ETCS Level 3?
- How will GSM-R improve communications between drivers and signallers and help reduce delays?
- How can Network Rail sustain a long-term vision for the Digital Railway to prosper in the future?
Alex Burrows
Managing Director , Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education
International spotlight
Implementing a digital railway across the entire rail network
Since 2008, Denmark has been implementing digital signalling across its entire network. The investment in ETCS is a major step in the railway revolution and over the next 10-years will invest more than €3 billion in digitalisation and automation of its network through their European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) initiative. This case study offers a unique opportunity to understand the challenges that face rail network operators and the ways in which digital rail is set to revolutionise Denmark’s rail system.
Jan Schneider-Tilli
Programme Director - Signalling , Banedanmark
Preparing for the future: training a skilled workforce to construct the Digital Railway
- What are the benefits of building and investing in a highly-skilled workforce in the UK?
- Can the UK become a global leader in skills development?
- How can rail address the gender imbalance and increase diversity in the industry?
- Mind the skills gap: how can rail attract the talent and skills needed for the future of Digital Railway in the UK?
Neil Robertson
Chief Executive Officer , National Skills Academy for Rail
Case study | Wales
Vertical Integration: a sign of what’s to come?
In the first deal of its kind since privatisation in the 1990s, last year Network Rail sold off 137km of Valley Lines routes to the Welsh Government. Transport for Wales has promised to modernise the infrastructure and electrify the South Wales Metro. Has the deal provided an interesting model for Network Rail to implement vertical integration elsewhere in the UK? How will infrastructure ownership benefit Welsh rail?
James Price
Chief Executive Officer , Transport for Wales
Devolution Revolution: evaluating the success of CP6’s regions
- One year on: what have been the biggest successes and challenges of the new regional model?
- How will the new model drive improvements and efficiency for Network Rail?
- How does the new system impact regional procurement and work with suppliers?
- How has greater devolution improved the commitment to ‘put passengers first’?
Tim Shoveller
Regional Managing Director for North West and Central , Network Rail
Panel discussion
‘One Team: One North’ – coordinating regional devolution
- How can Local Transport Authorities work to address ‘fragmentation’ and engage local decision making?
- Why is it important for rail to work with regional knowledge?
- How does rail fit into wider political devolution to the North?
- How can sub-national transport bodies cooperate to ensure joined up decision making?
- How can these benefits be passed on to the passenger?
- How can the North make their voice heard in Westminster?
Alejandro Moreno Moya
Alliance Director , Midland Metro Alliance
Ticket prices: delivering reform for passengers
- Why aren’t TOCs and customers seeing eye-to-eye about ticket prices?
- After the RDG fare consultation: what will it take for the industry to reform its fares?
- Is a simpler and more flexible fare system the key to a modern, customer focused railway?
- How can the industry better communicate with passengers the reasons behind rising fares?
Andy Bagnall
Director, Strategy & Communications , Rail Delivery Group
Case study | LNER
Cutting prices, not corners
There are frequent demands for fare reform in the industry. The correlation between single leg fares and return prices currently don’t match up. This case study will look at whether single leg tickets can be reduced to create a more convenient, flexible and fairly priced experience for passengers.
Suzanne Donnelly
Commercial and Marketing Director , LNER
Original solutions: how start-ups are using AI to pioneer a new passenger experience
Artificial Intelligence plays a crucial role in operations at tech start-ups. Start-ups are increasingly using big data to collate and predict prices for journey fares and provide personalized, real-time updates on a customer’s journey. This presentation shows how start-ups are using AI and big data to spearhead change in an often slow moving industry.
Clare Gilmartin
Chief Executive Officer , Trainline
Panel discussion
Evolving expectations: the rise of ticketing technology
- Putting the passenger in control: how can technology offer greater choice, time and freedom with ticketing?
- How are tech start-ups shaking-up the ticketing industry?
- The benefits for TOCs: how can smart ticketing decrease costs and improve efficiency, accuracy and security?
- The rise of big data: what can TOCs learn about route usage, crowd movements and passenger preferences from the data provided by smart ticketing?
- How is AI transforming smart ticketing?
Clare Gilmartin
Chief Executive Officer , Trainline
Iain Griffin
Chief Executive Officer and Founder , SeatFrog
Click here for our tracks: 'De-Carbonisation' and Rolling Stock | Mobility-as-a-Service and Station transformation | Customer Experience
Putting de-carbonisation at the top of the government agenda
- What is the Government’s policy on helping to de-carbonise rail in the UK?
- Electrification has stalled: what other sustainable options are the Government going to provide funding for?
- What lessons can the UK take from de-carbonisation success stories abroad?
- Looking ahead: how can the UK make the right investments in sustainable options for rail now?
Lilian Greenwood MP
Chair , Transport Select Committee
Case study | Transport Scotland
Moving towards net zero emissions
This session covers Scotland’s approach to rail de-carbonisation – impressively 75% of passengers in Scotland already travel on zero-emission trains. Has Transport Scotland’s pipeline-based approach to rail project development helped the country move towards sustainable travel more effectively?
Bill Reeve
Director of Rail , Transport Scotland
Fireside chat
New rolling stock: revolutionising the railways
- How will rolling stock be affected by the new franchising system?
- What is the future of rolling-stock financing?
- To what extent does improved passenger experience override the difficulties and cost of extensive fleet renewal?
- How are concerns about sustainability impacting rolling stock decisions?
- What is the future of hydrogen trains in the UK?
- Can the UK become a global leader investing in sustainable rail options?
Maggie Simpson
Executive Director , Rail Freight Group
Mary Grant
Chief Executive Officer , Porterbrook
Fireside chat
Integrated futures: looking beyond the tracks
- Every rail journey is multi-modal: how can TOCs collaborate with start-ups to provide ‘first and last mile’ services?
- How can GPS and live data provided by TOCs help passengers plan their journeys more effectively?
- How can technological innovation help solve the challenges of our increasingly complex transport network?
- What can rail learn from start-ups outside the industry?
Jess Oppetit
General Manager , ViaVan
Chris Lane
Head of Smart Travel , Transport for West Midlands
What does ‘putting passengers first’ mean in practice?
In this session Anthony discusses the main findings from the National Rail Passenger Survey. Each year Transport Focus consults more than 50,000 passengers about their experience of rail travel in the UK, and the report is used as a key performance indicator in most franchise competitions. Anthony explains what passengers want and expect from rail services, what strategies have been successful and what lessons can be learned going forwards.
Anthony Smith
Chief Executive Officer , Transport Focus
Case study | Southeastern
The success of Southeastern’s ambassadors
- Are simple solutions the most effective?
- What are the challenges of designing a new customer service culture?
- How can thinking ‘outside the box’ trigger innovative solutions to improve passenger experience?
- Engaging employees effectively: how can TOCs create an empowered and empathetic workforce?
Diane Burke
Commercial Director , Southeastern
Fireside chat
Investing in technology to improve customer experience
- From booking online to the on-board experience, how can TOCs create a seamless customer experience?
- Personalising the experience: how can TOCs provide real-time information to passengers in times of uncertainty?
- What technology can TOCs invest in to enhance on-board customer experience?
- Ensuring passengers walk away satisfied: how can TOCs design successful feedback mechanisms from the frontline?
Jacqueline Starr
Chief Operating Officer , Rail Delivery Group
Eleni Jordan
Commercial Director , Chiltern Railways
Martin Moran
Commercial and Customer Service Director , Abellio Greater Anglia
The future of British Rail
Keynote address
Holding Network Rail accountable in CP6
- How has greater devolution in CP6 ensured Network Rail is more focused on local priorities?
- How can the ORR continue to support regional devolution?
John Larkinson
Chief Executive Officer , Office of Rail and Road
Chair's closing remarks and drinks reception
Who attends?
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Tickets
All tickets include:
1 day conference pass, lunch & refreshments and a drinks reception
Group Discount
15% off
When you buy 3 or more tickets
Standard
save £300 Early Bird Until 13 December
£895.00 + VAT
Full Price £1,195.00 + VAT
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save £300 Early Bird Until 13 December
£295.00 + VAT
Full Price £595.00 + VAT