The West Midlands HS2 Steering Group and ULI UK delivered a dynamic conference examining how to maximise the opportunity and connectivity of High Speed Rail. The setting was Birmingham – centre of the rail network in Britain and soon to be home to HS2 Construction headquarters

The conference was moderated by Chris Choa, Vice President, Aecom (ULI UK Infrastructure Council Chair) and led by infrastructure, real estate, government and finance experts from across Europe and the UK within the following three themes:

• HS2’s role in enabling growth
• Connecting our Regions to High Speed Rail
• Demonstrating innovative ways of enabling national & international connectivity

To fully promote the growth opportunities of delivering HS2, the wider social and economic benefits were also debated together with the implications of HS2 Growth Strategies for both local and regional areas.

The keynote speakers included Baroness Kramer, appointed Minister of State for Transport and Alain Flausch, Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). Other speakers include Steve Gooding, Director General for Highways, Roads and Local Transport; David Brown, Chair of PTEG; Paul Kehoe, CEO of Birmingham Airport and James Pond, Chief Advisor, DG Move European Commission.

Speaker presentations can be found in the links to the right.

ULI has an active UK Infrastructure Council, chaired by Chris Choa and we would welcome you to further engage with this topic by attending future ULI meetings or events. Please contact the UK Coordinator at [email protected] or 0207 487 9870 for further details.