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Minister headlines busy seminars


The programme of free technical seminars at Infrarail organised by the rail engineer magazine attracted appreciative audiences throughout the three days of the event. Alongside informative presentations by exhibitors were three keynote addresses that were true highlights of this year’s show and underlined the industry’s positive future.


Keynote addresses attracted large audiences


After formally declaring Infrarail open on 1 May, Minister of State for Transport Theresa Villiers, MP, gave the first keynote speech of the programme. Emphasising the government’s commitment to rail


she said: “We’ve broken the typical pattern, where rail has often seemed to be among the first casualties when government spending has to be reined in to restore the public finances to health,” adding that it had “been able to commit £18 billion to rail in the current spending review period.”


But after outlining some of the major projects currently in progress, she reiterated the government position that the industry must address its costs, pointing to inefficiencies worth between £2.5 and £3.5 billion per year identified in last year’s McNulty report. “Network Rail is due to deliver £1.2 billion of efficiency


savings by 2014, with at least a further £600 million expected by 2019,” she said. “But we need to go further. By 2019, we want the industry to close the full £3.5 billion efficiency gap identified in the McNulty report.” The Minister outlined initiatives the government is pursuing on franchise reform, fares and ticketing


Theresa Villiers confirmed the government’s commitment to rail


technologies and the work of the Rail Delivery Group. She also called for a stronger partnership between government and the supply industry to respond to future major challenges such as high-speed rail. “Part of our strategy for successful delivery of this


massive project involves developing the expertise of British and UK-based firms to compete for HS2 contracts,” she said. “To ensure that the UK-based supply chain is in a position to benefit as far as possible from this project, the government will engage in a dialogue with potential suppliers to ensure they are well-placed to bid competitively,” she added. Acknowledging the work of the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering and the Crossrail Tunnelling and Underground Academy, she confirmed that the government is funding special ‘Catapult Centres’ that will help drive forward innovation and help British based firms compete in the global market for transport technology. “Transport is one of seven key areas of business covered by the Catapult Centres which are due to open next year,” she said. To view the text of the Minister’s speech, click on


this link: Stimulating sessions on The Platform


Lively discussion and audience participation characterised The Platform sessions, which took place on two days of Infrarail. Staged by Railnews and the Rail Champions business development organisation, this new feature at this year’s show challenged conventional thinking when tackling key issues facing the industry. These ranged from collaborative business relationships – very much part of Network Rail’s supplier engagement strategy, innovation in the rail sector and the industry’s skills needs to harnessing the potential opportunities of a Birmingham interchange station for HS2.


Paul Cooper of Young Railway Professionals (left), Gil Howarth, CEO of the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (centre) and Pete


Waterman, Co-Founder and Patron of NSARE, engage with their audience during the ‘Bridging the Skills Gap’ session.


WWW.RAILTEX.CO.UK now live INFRARAIL 2012 SHOW REVIEW 5


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