The UK’s leading rail event
21 March 2023 | Hilton Tower Bridge, London
Accelerate: Rail returns in 2023 at a time of significant change: navigating reforms, pushing sustainability initiatives, and working towards a better connected, accessible, and reliable journey for passengers.
This year, our rail event is bringing together the most influential leaders in the industry to discover and challenge these critical issues, delivering talks across the GBR transition, digitalisation, sustainability and more. Accelerate: Rail 2023 provides an opportunity to explore this unprecedented time in rail, and to connect with the industry’s biggest infrastructure bodies, TOCs, ROSCOs and more, to push innovation forward.
“Accelerate: Rail is a fantastic forum through which we can come together to truly evolve the rail industry.”
– Chief Operating Officer, Rail Delivery Group
2023 Event Speakers
Andrew Haines
Chief Executive & Great British Railways Transition Team Lead , Network Rail
John Larkinson
Chief Executive Officer, Office of Rail and Road
Neil Robertson
Chief Executive Officer, National Skills Academy for Rail
Dyan Crowther
Chief Executive Officer, High Speed 1
Mark Thurston
Chief Executive Officer, HS2
James Price
Chief Executive Officer, Transport for Wales
Tricia Williams
Chief Operating Officer, Northern Trains Ltd
Claire Mann
Managing Director, South Western Railway
Key event themes for 2023
GBR reform
As the transition to Great British Railways gets well underway, unpack the latest news and updates from the project’s lead Andrew Haines and the CEO of Office for Road and Rail, as well as pivotal discussions from various railway bodies about how this change will impact them.
Sustainable travel
Decarbonsation, electrification, MaaS, freight and more: dive deep into the future of sustainable travel with some of the industry’s top green thinkers, including Rail Freight Group and Transport for Wales.
Passenger experience
Explore rail’s progress in putting the passenger first, with invaluable sessions from Chiltern Railways and LNER, as we cover a range of topics from customer feedback and information distribution to connectivity and accessibility.
The digital railway
As the boundaries of the digital world keep evolving, discover how rail stays committed to pushing progress. Be inspired by insight from HS1 on advances in predictive maintenance, as well as talks on signalling, data integration and technology.
Ticketing and fares
At a time of immense reform, experience crucial discussions on the future of ticketing and fares – don’t miss gripping sessions from GBRTT and Great Western Railway on making rail attractive, affordable, and accessible to the consumer.
The modern workforce
Look beyond the network as we understand the workings and requirements of the modern workforce, with conversations from HS2 and the National Skills Academy for Rail on the future of rail modernisation, skill attraction and achieving diversity in the workplace.
2023 Event Agenda
Accelerate: Rail 2023
Chair's opening remarks
Making reform worthwhile: enacting change under Great British Railways
Keynote address
Great British Railways: Delivering a simpler and better railway
- The case for reform: why we need to improve our nation’s railway
- Gaining momentum: what has GBRTT achieved so far?
- Looking forward: how will a reformed railway support customers and the country?
Andrew Haines
Chief Executive & Great British Railways Transition Team Lead
Network Rail
Keynote address
Next steps in rail regulation: PR23 and beyond
The consultations regarding regulation and funding for Great British Railway happen under the ORR’s Periodic Review 2023. This keynote will explore and assess the outcomes of Phase 1, the progress of Phase 2, and look ahead to the objectives of Phase 3.
John Larkinson
Chief Executive Officer
Office of Rail and Road
Leaders’ forum
Achieving meaningful rail reform
- Pushing for progress: how can the move to GBR break down barriers that stunted previous reform?
- How will collaboration between TOCs be encouraged under the unification of bodies?
- The new age of rail: what are the operational realities of moving to a new network?
- A helping hand: what additional regulatory or governmental input is needed to support reform?
- How will the creation of GBR ensure meaningful change for customers?
- A greener world: how do the GBR reforms fit in with the wider sustainability agenda?
Andrew Haines
Chief Executive & Great British Railways Transition Team Lead
Network Rail
John Larkinson
Chief Executive Officer
Office of Rail and Road
Keynote address
A model for change: overviews and insights from the development of HS2
Mark Thurston
Chief Executive Officer
HS2
Refreshments
Devolution and levelling up
Keynote address
A piece of the puzzle: reconciling devolution with the GBR transition
In this keynote, Tom will outline and explore the workings of devolved bodies under the current Great British Railway reforms. The nature of devolution poses uncertainties with the newly centralised ‘guiding mind’ of GBR, and so the realities of balance and responsibility shall be discussed here.
Tom Joyner
Managing Director
CrossCountry Trains
Case study
Devolution and Transport for Wales
James Price
Chief Executive Officer
Transport for Wales
Panel discussion
A balancing act: achieving a united railway with a devolved industry
- The story so far: assessing the devolution journey
- Considering the centralisation of power: how will devolution be affected by GBR?
- Understanding regional groups: what roles will TfL, TfN and TfW have under the new structure?
- How will the day-to-day communication between devolved and decision-making bodies change under GBR?
- Achieving unity: how will GBR create an environment of connection, communication and understanding between bodies?
- Passengers, economy, environment: what is the wider impact of further devolution?
Alex Hynes
Managing Director
Scotland’s Railway
James Price
Chief Executive Officer
Transport for Wales
Claire Mann
Managing Director
South Western Railway
Passenger experience
Keynote address
Putting the passenger first: prioritising the customer in 2023
- How have priorities in passenger experience developed with changes in customer travel patterns?
- Leading the way: what prompted the inception of Chiltern’s Customer Standards project and what insight has this given into passenger experience?
- What and how can we learn about passenger experience from outside the industry?
Eleni Jordan
Director, Commercial & Customer Strategy
Chiltern Railways
Presentation
Station as a Place: building the station of tomorrow
- Dreaming big: what are the main priority areas in building new stations?
- A space for all: how can Rail achieve fully accessible stations across the board?
- From humans to machines: how do we maintain the presence of our workforce at stations alongside technological developments?
- In what ways must Rail’s approach to green spaces be improved to achieve sustainable stations?
Mark Powles
Director of Commercial and Customer
Northern
Panel discussion
Moving forward in passenger experience: making significant change happen
- From COVID to the cost of living: what changes have been most impactful over the past year?
- What steps can be taken to move passenger experience projects from concept to action?
- How can Rail better support passengers during the cost-of-living crisis?
- In what ways can ticketing reform maximise improving passenger experience?
- How has Rail progressed in making CX and information-distribution technology a reality on trains?
- No passenger left behind: how do we reconcile digitalisation with accessibility?
Abu Siddeeq
Customer Experience Director
c2c Trenitalia
Mark Powles
Director of Commercial and Customer
Northern
Chris Fowler
Customer Services Director
Southern Railway
Kathryn Darbandi
Managing Director
Caledonian Sleeper
Charlotte Whitfield
Customer Experience Director
Arriva London
The digital railway
Keynote address
Pushing boundaries through digital signalling: East Coast and beyond
- Exploring the breakthrough progress of the East Coast Digital Programme
- Understanding the major challenges in delivering cross industry change
- How ECDP enabled the industrial strategy for digital signalling and set the path for investments under GBR
Toufic Machnouk
Director, Industry Partnership for Digital Railway
Network Rail
Fireside chat
Predictive maintenance: embracing new technologies to protect the network
- What new technologies are available to protect the network?
- How does the intensification of climate change pose problems to predictive maintenance?
- In what ways can technology support Rail’s workforce on the ground?
Dyan Crowther
Chief Executive Officer
High Speed 1
Nick Kotsis
Chief Data Scientist & Director of Data, GBRTT
Network Rail
Panel discussion
Becoming a data-driven railway: integrating insights across the board
- A starting point: how is Rail incorporating the use of data to benefit the network?
- In what ways can pioneering data technologies be utilised within Rail to leverage better passenger insight?
- What are the main barriers that prevent data from being used effectively within the industry?
- How can data be used to improve journeys, scheduling, and maintenance?
- How do we make data accessible and understood in the workplace?
- What are the benefits of utilising the UK’s growing cohort of data experts within Rail?
Malcolm Taylor
Expert Adviser, Digital
Crossrail
Andrew Friel
Head of Strategy and Intelligence
Great Western Railway
Lunch
Sustainable travel
Opening remarks
An update on decarbonisation from GBRTT
Rich Fisher
Head of Strategic Planning
Great British Railways Transition Team
Keynote address
Mapping out the next steps: progress in decarbonisation and electrification
As the environmental pressures of climate change continue to rise across the globe, Rail’s focus on decarbonsation becomes a priority for ensuring sustainability. In this keynote, our speaker explores the investments, progress and challenges of decarbonisation and electrification.
Darren Caplan
Chief Executive
Railway Industry Association
Keynote address
Mobilising Road to Rail: putting freight at the forefront of transportation
- Rolling with the times: how is the purpose of freight changing and what new considerations might this pose?
- A post-Brexit world: how can Rail adapt to the changing nature of road freight to boost demand for Rail?
- Considering the transition to GBR: how will freight navigate the reform in practical terms?
- What are the ideal outcomes of the GBRTT-led Rail freight growth target consultation?
Maggie Simpson OBE
Director General
Rail Freight Group
Panel discussion
Adapting to our new world: what’s next for sustainable Rail travel?
- What progress has the government made in committing to green Rail and what more can be done?
- Facing realities: what emerging technologies can be used to reduce the embedded carbon in electrification?
- How will Rail overcome the hurdles involved in replacing traditional methods with sustainable ones?
- What methods can be used to promote Rail as a sustainable form of transport and hence the move from road to rail?
- How can Rail embed sustainability objectives into the day-to-day operations?
- How can Rail achieve an energy-efficient network?
Rich Fisher
Head of Strategic Planning
Great British Railways Transition Team
Natalie Rees
Head of Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Transport for Wales
George Davies
Director Sustainable Development
RSSB
Ticketing and fares
Keynote address
Ticketing in a time of significant reform
- What changes must Rail prioritise during the GBR transition to assure needs and improvements are being met?
- What does the complexity of ticketing types mean for customer engagement?
- How can ticketing be swiftly reformed to adapt to the cost-of-living crisis?
Oliver Owens
Deputy Commercial Director & Head of Revenue Management
Great Western Railway
Case study
Lessons from Europe: getting passengers back on the railways
- What are the main initiatives that have been implemented in a post-COVID, cost-of-living crisis Europe to encourage the return to Rail?
- How could such initiatives be implemented in the UK?
- What are the long-term effects of sales-driven cost reduction?
Ralph Gambetta
Chairman
Smart Ticketing Alliance
Panel discussion
The future of ticketing and fares: from centralisation to digitalisation
- In what ways will the centralisation of ticketing and fares bring change to the industry?
- How would fully digitalising ticketing impact the passenger?
- Goodbye to fixed fares: is there a future in dynamic pricing?
- From devolved bodies to TOCs: how will ticket and fare reform affect different areas of the industry?
- A new generation: how can Rail utilise changes in ticketing and fares to encourage young people to use trains?
Stewart Fox-Mills
Director of Fares, Ticketing and Retail
Great British Railways Transition Team
Kamelia Lazarova
Smart Ticketing Scheme Manager
Greater Anglia
Timothy Woodward
Head of Fares, Ticketing and Retail Strategy, Passenger Services
Department for Transport
Sue Walnut
Product Director, UK & Ireland
Vix Technology
Refreshments
Building the workforce of the future
Fireside Chat
The rising stars of tomorrow
With over 28% of the workforce being over 50, and many looking to retire in the coming years, Rail is facing a recruitment challenge. It must therefore achieve a flow of young, inspiring workers to ensure growth within the industry. Today, we’re inviting two rising stars to discuss their experiences in Rail, the challenges it brings, and what more can be done to build a fresh, diverse, and inclusive workforce.
Rachel Anglin
Train Driver
Chiltern Railways
Dan Wright
Operational Apprentice
LNER
Panel Discussion
Moving towards Rail Modernisation
- Expanding the workforce: what methods can Rail utilise to attract new talent?
- What new technical skills would Rail benefit from welcoming to the industry?
- How can the industry develop its training and empowering of the existing workforce?
- What changes must Rail implement to better the retention of staff?
- What needs to happen to improve industrial relations?
- How do we achieve a cohort of diverse, inclusive, and inspired workers?
Natalie Penrose
Head of Legacy
HS2
Neil Robertson
Chief Executive Officer
National Skills Academy for Rail
Tricia Williams
Chief Operating Officer
Northern Trains Ltd
“Contemporary and relevant and a great opportunity to network and share ideas with thought leaders.”
– Chief Executive Officer, HS1
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Who attends?
Every major TOC and transport group attends this rail event
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