The Institute took its Vision 2035 debate to the Labour Party Conference in Brighton yesterday, where a panel of experts from across the rail sector discussed the future of our railways. Panellists each offered their visions for the future of the UK’s railways to a packed audience of politicians, industry experts and Labour party members.

Alex Hynes, Managing Director, Northern Rail kicked off the discussion and spoke of Northern Rail’s plans to create a greater connected railway that ‘puts the customer first’ and ‘drives economic growth’. Alex claimed that the Northern Rail vision for the future of the railway would be ‘where decisions are made by the North, for the North, from the North.’

Lord Berkeley, Chairman, Rail Freight Group and CILT Vice-President claimed that the ‘model in the future for freight is that we need increased capacity’. He stated that ‘intermodal freight will double in the next 20 years’ and emphasised the importance of ensuring we are prepared for this significant increase in demand.

For Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Council, Chair, Merseytravel the future of our railways is about growing the railway, delivering value for money and being responsive to Britain’s needs. Anthony Smith, CEO, Transport Focus declared that ‘the time for the railways has come’ stating that revenue for the railways is at a high as well as passenger numbers increasing and that the key to successful long-term development is to ‘rebuild trust between the operators and the passengers’.

The panel then responded to delegate’s questions in a lively Q+A session which included topics such as; devolution, high-speed WiFi and the future of Network Rail.