Funding and Financing the Railway

On Wednesday 19th February YRP held the third in its series of talks on funding and financing in the rail sector, in association with KPMG. Speakers from KPMG’s Infrastructure Advisory Group Transport team, along with speakers from East West Rail Co. and the Rail Delivery Group, delivered four engaging talks on the Business Case for East West rail and Fares Reform – two major projects within the rail sector.

New projects like East West Rail are pioneering ways of delivering things differently in the sector – with questions on how these kinds of projects can be plugged into the delivery of new housing. They are also thinking of ways to lever the land value uplifts new railways create in order  to find more equitable ways of funding and financing the costs of new enhancements. The upcoming Williams Review is also likely to recommend some fundamental changes to the organisation of the sector, facilitating reform of Britain’s rail fares system. Doing this in a manner that is revenue neutral, simple to understand and offers greater choice remains key.

Around 120 people attended the event. Special thanks go to our speakers Chelsea Dosad, Patrick Baldwin and Geordie Costello from KPMG, Andy Wakeford from RDG, and Alex MacFarlane from East West Rail.