15.05.15
One more Railtex in the books
The three day event of networking, learning and displaying innovation that was Railtex 2015 has come to a close.
RTM was there prominently all three days, attending the talks and discussions in the Knowledge Hub and Seminar Theatre while also manning a stand and live blogging the entire exhibition.
Read our live blogs: Day One, Day Two, Day Three.
Some of the highlights included the keynote from Terrance Watson of Alstom and the Rail Supply Group. He said that Railtex 2015 was timed perfectly with a new government in place, adding that rail has a “clear mandate” and an “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.
He added that the rail supply sector is “underestimated by a margin”, with its 212,000 employees (including TOCs) making it larger than its automotive equivalent.
Watson believes the industry is in development mode and needs support to move forward. The focus on ‘projects’ to the detriments of systems is not healthy, he said – too much tactics and not enough strategy.
Another session with Keith Jordan, managing director of Hitachi Rail Europe was also interesting.
In his talk, Jordan said: “We are under pressure to be more competitive. We are not seen as good value by most governments or good value for money by passengers. We are responding to that, but we must do more.”
He also said: “We are here to move passengers around. A train won’t move without assistance without the track and signalling and that is what I mean by the whole system. We are all part of it.
“With a ‘One System’ approach I think we can grow and not shrink; increase efficiency, cut costs and reduce the duplication of effort. We can also increase value for money.”
But, saving the best for last, perhaps the most illuminating discussion at the exhibition came from Patrick Hallgate, managing director of the Great Western Route Modernisation for Network Rail.
His surprisingly open and frank talk addressed many of the issues the upgrade had to deal with putting it way behind schedule.
Read what he had to say here.