Britain’s rail sector is in a state of flux. In this interactive live broadcast, we assess the outlook in the wake of the scrapping of the remaining legs of High Speed 2, ongoing pressure on day to day operating budgets, question marks over plans to establish a ‘guiding mind’ for the industry, and an uneven picture of devolution.

 Regulatory Control Period 7 is around the corner, but a clear framework for funding and delivering enhancements across the network remains absent. While the UK government has control over the industry’s finances to extent arguably never seen before, there seems to be little clarity on how or when the industry will return to the era of surging growth seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. But away from DfT and Treasury control, there are signs of hope, including in parts of the rail freight market and in the devolved regions including Scotland, Wales and Liverpool.

 In this interactive live broadcast, we’ll be asking how the UK rail industry can navigate through a period of great uncertainty, how the sector can win back the trust of policymakers, how far a general election might change the outlook, and how predicted growth might be accommodated now the huge increase in network capacity promised by HS2 will no longer be available.

November 22, 2023 9.00 - 10.00 GMT