Last week, Hey Me team member Olivia attended the RIA Wales and Western Summit. Held in the centre of Cardiff, the Hugh James building that hosted the event overlooked Cardiff Central station, a main travel hub in Wales.
The RIA organisers prepared a fantastic series of presentations, encompassing experts from across the Welsh and Western rail industry. Highlights included a presentation from Tim Walden from Network Rail, David McCallum from Transport for Wales and Ruth Busby who oversees Welsh rail development.
The RIA Wales and Western team also shared how they are driving positive change for rail in Wales and Western. Their recent research was presented through four priorities. The first priority is an ‘Integrated Transport Vision’, which highlights how future integration across key stakeholders and further organisations could create a holistic integrated transport vision, which would make the industry stronger. The second priority is ‘Visibility of funding mechanisms and pipeline’, which addresses the impact of economic uncertainty on the industry.
The third priority, ‘Innovation and testing opportunities and facilities to address cost challenges’ explores how decarbonisation and improvements in signalling can shape the industry’s future, and that additional changes that are local to Wales, such as the Cardiff to Swansea line enhancement, could see a cross-industry effort to create.
The final priority is most concerned with innovation on an individual scale. ‘Developing Industry Skills and People’ addresses the skills shortages across the industry, whilst simultaneously prioritising encouraging diversity. As a part of this priority, RIA have undergone research into innovation within the rail industry, and how smaller organisations based in rail innovation could make a difference.
The RIA Wales and Western Summit was a fantastic event, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank the organisers for hosting such a great summit. It was an incredibly insightful event, where much was taught, learnt, and discussed. We enjoyed meeting everyone there and hope it’s not too long before our path’s cross again.
