OVERVIEW

One-day conference organised in conjunction with the Railway Industry Association

We are delighted to announce that Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for Transport will deliver the keynote address at this event.

The Government have announced that the new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham will go ahead. The first phase of the project would cut London-Birmingham journey times to 49 minutes and could be running by 2026.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening has broadly confirmed the plans on which the Government consulted, with provision for a spur to Heathrow and a link to HS1. She has also announced extra tunnelling along the route in response to environmental concerns. Out of a total length of just under 140 miles, around 22.5 miles (not including the HS1 link) will be in tunnel or green tunnel. This is an increase of more than 50 per cent from the route consulted on.

With this decision the project moves on to the next phase: making the project a reality, with the focus turning to safeguarding the route, detailed engagement on environmental impact issues and preparation for the introduction of a hybrid bill by the end of 2013.

This highly topical and timely one-day conference, organised in conjunction with The Railway Industry Association, will further examine the next steps for HS2.

Issues for debate include:

What lessons can we learn from Europe about high speed rail?
What would the geographical impact of HS2 be?
How will the London transport network cope with increased rail patronage?
How could HS2 impact on local business?
What will be the economic uplift for Birmingham?
When will HSR go to Scotland and what route will it take?
Shrinking the north-south gap:will it be good for Leeds, Sheffield, East Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle?