The extension of the high speed rail (HSR) system in the UK is becoming increasingly necessary, taking into account the growing needs of mobility and society’s requirements regarding sustainability.

As for other existing HSR systems around the world, the capacity offered by this modern transport system has a major impact on the development of large cities and regions and its success – more than the business and financing model – is based on how this capacity can be absorbed by the rest of the transport model.

In the case of London, an initial experience featured the introduction of HS1, the line between the Channel Tunnel and the city centre. Now the challenge is how HS2 will be integrated with both London (and its complex urban transport system) and HS1, with which it will create a network.

Based on the experience of its members, with several countries already operating
or building high speed networks and others currently planning high speed systems, the International Union of Railways (UIC) is proposing – together with HS2 and other British organisations – an in-depth discussion on HSR concepts.

The workshop on HSR Regional Connectivity – Catalyst for Growth intends to be a reminder of the HSR principles and characteristics, as well as of the needs and requirements of the main actors, taking into account the key concepts of accessibility and intermodality.

To tackle these questions and many others, a full day’s professional workshop is being proposed, which will be highly interactive, not mediated and involve selected and a wide range of stakeholders including representatives from many UIC regional authorities.

More details on the programme available here:
http://uic.org/com/IMG/pdf/regional_connectivity_flyer.pdf