We are delighted to be hosting our third annual stakeholder conference on 26 June at the ThinkTank in Birmingham. If you would like to attend please register via Eventbrite here.

The day will bring together political and industry leaders to discuss how we can grow rail for the benefit of customers, communities, and economic growth. The conference is a crucial part of West Coast Partnerships aim to engage and collaborate with stakeholders.

We are delighted that the conference will feature a variety of high-profile speakers including:

• Andy Mellors, Managing Director, Avanti West Coast
• Shamit Gaiger, Managing Director, West Coast Partnership Development
• Lord Patrick McLoughlin CH, Chair, Transport for the North
• Iain Stewart MP, Chair, Transport Select Committee
• Anit Chandarana, Lead Director, GBRTT 
• Vernon Everitt, Transport Commissioner, Greater Manchester 
• James Dean, Route Director, WCML South, Network Rail
• Andy Bagnall, Chief Executive, Rail Partners
• David Sidebottom, Director, Transport Focus 
• Emma Head, Technical Services Delivery Director, HS2 Ltd

A variety of panel sessions are planned for the day focused on how we, through both Avanti West Coast and West Coast Partnership Development, can improve rail for the benefit of customers. You’ll hear from a range of experts across numerous key issues, including rail reform, innovation, and how we collaborate to drive regional growth.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference. Shortly after the event, we will be launching our annual stakeholder survey. At that time, you will receive a link to invite you to participate. Please do take the time to fill it in. We value your feedback as its helps shape our engagement with you and inform our decision making. In a future newsletter, we’ll share the headline findings from the 2023 survey, and our action plan to address these findings.