Railfuture | Railfuture Conferences and Webinars

Railfuture now holds one major national conference each year, in late summer/early autumn (in addition to its AGM for members). We aim only to cover our costs. The conferences are competitively priced, to be within rail users' price range, and are open to everyone. Railfuture members are usually offered a chance to attend at a discounted rate. We also produce free-to-attend Webinars.

Speakers come from a variety of backgrounds. Some of the organisations who have spoken at conferences and webinars include Anglia Railways, Arriva Cross Country, Arriva Trains Wales, Association of Train Operating Companies, Cardiff International Airport, Centro, Chester-le-Track, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry Trains, Delta Rail, East Coast, East Midlands Trains, East West Rail Consortium, Eurostar, First Capital Connect, First Great Western, First Transpennine Express, Furrer + Frey GB, Grand Central, Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, Green Signals, Heathrow Southern Railway, Hitachi Rail Europe, HS2, Independent Rail Retailers, London Midland, London Overground Railway Operations, Merseytravel, MyTestTrack.com, Network Rail, Northern Rail, Northern Trains, Northern (Arriva Rail North), Nottingham Express Transit, Parry People Movers, Port Of Sunderland, Rail Delivery Group, RSSB, ScotRail Alliance, SLC Rail, Southeastern, South West Trains, Thameslink and Great Northern, Transpennine Express, TramPower, Transport for Wales Rail, Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, UK Rail Leasing, Virgin Trains, Virgin Trains East Coast, Vivarail and West Midlands Trains.

Click HERE to see a list events and speakers for each organisation.

To follow Railfuture's conferences and webinars on Twitter use the hash-tag shown against the event.
Note: this hash-tag is not exclusive to Railfuture.

Future Events

Click HERE For a list of rail-related events including free-to-attend Railfuture branch meetings

Sorry but there are no future events available to book yet - please re-visit this website later.

Past Conferences

The location of Railfuture national conferences vary each year but always with good rail connections. The following is a list of conferences and webinars in recent years.

2023/Leeds - ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE [link]

Thu 30/03/2023 Turning Point for the Railway
The railway needs to understand and influence what politicians want from it, including how to structure it to make it much more effective. Where should the focus of campaigners for a bigger, better, railway be? The railway can be a highly effective contributor to decarbonisation, to levelling up and as part of many wider initiatives — but only if it is successful in attracting passengers and freight to use the railway. The post-Covid railway can no longer rely on commuters who 'have' to travel to work each day — who can replace them? Our conference provided an opportunity to pause and reflect on this.
This conference was dedicated to the memory of William Whiting, who helped to organise this event and was a widely respected rail campaigner

'What do we want the railways to look like in the future?'

It was held at St George's Centre, 60 Great George Street, Leeds LS1 3DL

Timings: 09.15-10.15 Arrivals - tea/coffee/pastries; 10.15-12.45 Morning session; 12.45-13.45 Lunch; 13.45-16.30 Afternoon session to include a workshop for all attendees

CONFERENCE MATERIALS:

Click [Download] or [Display] for the Slides produced by Railfuture (includes slides from some of the speakers) (PDF format)
Read an [Article] about the conference — Railfuture's Annual National Conference still coming to Leeds despite strikes (Rail Business Daily on 17/03/2023)

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS (AND THEIR PRESENTATIONS):

About the speakers: [Read Speaker Biographies]

Nick Flynn and Abby Taylor , Family Friendly Trains (talked about: Campaign to make trains more family friendly)
Stewart Palmer, Vice President and Director, Railfuture (talked about: Railfuture's view on whether the railway is working for passengers)
Karen Bennett , Education and Youth Engagement Advisor, Community Rail Lancashire (talked about: How young people can be engaged in the railways)
Phil Smart, Assistant Policy Manager, Rail Freight Group (talked about: Rail's role in the future movement of freight)
Dr Manuel Ojeda Cabral, Senior Research Fellow in Transport Economics and Appraisal, University of Leeds (talked about: The value of new railway lines and stations)
Craig Alexander, replaced Alison Smith, Head of Accessibility and Inclusion, Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) (talked about: where GBRTT is currently)
Conference Chair: Brian Barnsley , Deputy Chief Executive of Community Rail Network and Head of Support and Development, Community Rail Network
The above speakers have confirmed their availability for the new conference date, although they may provide a substitute in their place

2019/Bristol - ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE [link]

Sat 21/09/2019 Every Passenger Matters
The Railfuture national conference centred on topics around inclusion and accessibility for passengers using the rail network.

It was held at St Michael's Centre, The Green, Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8PD

Registration from 09:30, starts at 10:00. Close at 16:30

Railfuture is grateful for sponsorship from Cross Country Trains

CONFERENCE MATERIALS:

Further Info: Click [Download] or [Display] for the programme, including map (PDF format)
Read a [Press Release] about the conference
Listen to a [Radio Interview] about the conference