In September, we welcomed many of you to our fifth annual West Coast Partnership Stakeholder Conference in Birmingham. The event brought together over 150 political and industry leaders to explore how we can grow rail to better serve customers, support communities, and drive economic growth. We’re delighted that 100% of the attendee feedback rated the conference either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ and we have captured comments to help improve next year’s conference.
The conference centred around three strategic themes:
Enhancing Rail for Customers and Communities – improving connectivity, accessibility, and passenger experience.
Driving Economic Growth – leveraging rail investment to unlock regional development and social value.
Collaborating for the Future – addressing industry challenges through cross-sector partnerships.
Event highlights included inspiring keynote speeches from Andy Mellors, Managing Director of Avanti West Coast, and Shamit Gaiger OBE, Managing Director of West Coast Partnership Development. We heard powerful insights from panellists including Gareth Snell MP, Transport Focus, and Network Rail, and enjoyed lively engagement through our live Q&A platform and stakeholder marketplace.
We also celebrated Railway 200 with a creative finale, a performance written by Avanti West Coast’s own Geoff Baker, showcasing the rich history and future promise of rail.
Andy Mellors reflected on a year of progress, including the rollout of our new Evero trains and service levels now exceeding pre-pandemic volumes. He emphasised the importance of working together to deliver a reliable, customer-first railway.
Shamit Gaiger OBE addressed the HS2 reset and reinforced rail’s role in enabling growth, housing, and jobs, while keeping customers at the centre of everything we do.
We also tackled the ongoing uncertainty around Great British Railways (GBR) and highlighted the need for clearer reform and better integration of HS2 into the wider network.
The conversations and connections made at this year’s conference reaffirmed our shared commitment to building a rail network that delivers real value for the people and places we serve.
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