It was a great day yesterday at the RSSB offices in London for the first Young Rail Professionals (YRP) Innovation Conference, held as part of the Railway 200 celebrations, which I hosted and organised.
The event brought together a fantastic range of speakers and panellists to explore what innovation means for the railway - not just in terms of technology, but also in how we think about the future role of rail in society. The discussions covered a wide range of topics, from long-term strategic thinking about the next 200 years of rail, to the opportunities that innovation and new ways of working present for the industry today.
A huge thank you to all of our speakers and panellists for sharing their ideas, knowledge and expertise: Toufic Machnouk, Haydon Bartlett-Tasker, Gareth Evans, Liam Henderson, Aditi Gupta, Stephen Head, Benjamin Parry, Bonnie Price and Matthew Griffin. Your contributions sparked some really thought-provoking conversations throughout the day.
Iād also like to thank everyone who attended and engaged so enthusiastically with the discussions. The energy in the room and the willingness to share perspectives from across the industry made the event incredibly valuable.
It was inspiring to see so many people coming together to think about the future of rail and how the next generation of railway professionals can help shape the next 200 years.
Finally, a big thank you to RSSB for hosting us and supporting the event.