Online discussion - 25 February 2021

After an uncertain year, 2021 will see many opportunities for rail stations to support the ‘Build Back Better’ agenda by opening new connections and unlocking local development opportunities.

Railway stations are catalysts for change. Station investment can have a major impact in terms of urban regeneration and transformation, and provide gateways to the national rail network and to the neighbourhoods they serve. This event will highlight how innovative thinkers are:

• Maximising the economic, social and environmental benefits to be gained from treating railway stations as primary development hubs

• Boosting new station hubs as convenient amenities as well as safe and environmentally parts of a key transport network 

• Investing in stations and the passenger experience post-COVID

• Responding to changing travel and retail trends and maximising new opportunities

Conference programme

Please note that the programme is currently under development and subject to change

09.00

Registration

09.30

Introduction and welcome

Scene-setting: Policy, funding development, recovery contracts and the implications for rail property development
Philip Beer, partner, Burges Salmon

09.45

The context for rail stations and property in 2021

Session chair: Jonathan Bray, Director, Urban Transport Group

Setting the scene – passengers and stations
John Siraut, Director of Economics & Global Technology Lead, Transport Economics, Jacobs

The opportunities in local centre stations and multi-modal connectivity
Yolande Barnes, Chair, Bartlett Real Estate Institute, University College London

Action stations: How devolution is transforming rail stations for the better
Stephen Joseph, Transport Policy Adviser and Consultant, Urban Transport Group

Followed by facilitated Q+A for panel and delegates

11.00

Morning networking

11.20

Rail stations as facilitators of development 

Chair: Peter Plisner, Former BBC Transport Correspondent and Director, Clever Conclusions

A panel of regional experts and leading regional developers will explore key themes

Ian Baxter, Strategy Director, SLC Rail

Martin Faulkner, Commercial Manager, Urban Growth Company

Niki French, Senior Project Manager, Interchange Station, HS2 

Hala Lloyd, Lead Architect, HS2 Midlands Stations

A deep dive into rail station development in the West Midlands, the centre of many major station development and rail station-led development projects:

• railway stations as facilitators of development

• the development of railway land, stations and depots and surplus land

• making effective use of commercial space in stations

• station access, in particular park-and-ride commercialisation 

• rail stations and the housing challenge

Facilitated Q+A for panel and delegates

12.30

Networking 

13.00

Future stations: design and management

Chair: Lucy Harper, Station Strategy Group, Rail Delivery Group

ThinkStation: design futures for smaller urban and rural stations
Catherine Horwill, Lead Programme Manager, Design Council

What matters most - the passenger perspective
Geoff Grant, Stakeholder Management, Transport Focus

The secret to managing and delivering successful third party projects
Sam Uren, Engineering Director, SLC Rail

Issues include:

• Smart stations: technology and innovation 

• Stations as catalysts for healthy, sustainable communities

• Delivering positive outcomes for passengers

• Agililty and flexible operations

• Safer, low carbon and more efficient stations

14.00

Afternoon networking

14.15

Rail stations and regeneration

Chair: Philip Beer, partner, Burges Salmon

City centre regeneration in Dundee: hotel, regeneration and rebuild case sudy
Willie Watt, Director, Nicoll Russell Studios

E-rail: a Land Value Capture toolkit
George Hazel, Director, E-rail

Land Value Capture and the rail interface: essential steps for success
Ian Lindsay, Senior Partner, aspire CP

Technology innovations in land referencing - empowering users through digital solutions
Surabhi Deshpande, Land Referencing Technology Lead, Terraquest

Suburban networks and wider town centre regeneration: South Shields
George Mansbridge, Corporate Director, Regeneration and Environment, South Tyneside Council

Followed by facilitated Q+A for panel and delegates

15.45

Conference close

This established event is the premier forum of the rail industry, the property development and real estate sectors, retailers as well as those locally, regionally and nationally responsibly for economic development and growth. Macros and micro trends strongly indicate the railway stations will continue as a major dynamo of unlocking jobs, housing and economic growth of the next decade and beyond.