An excellent turnout of attendees joined a high-profile panel of experts at County Hall in central London, sharing an insightful discussion regarding the role of Britain’s stations in placemaking.
Great Britain has over 2,500 railway stations including 400 listed buildings. The independent Better Rail Stations report of 2009 made a number of recommendations for them, including that spending on upkeep and improvement should be stepped up for ten years to catch up on the backlog of upgrading nineteenth-century buildings. Ten years later, the agenda has moved on, with an emphasis on devolution and the involvement of communities in the railway and stations which serve them, to seek wider benefits such as contributions to housing and social inclusion. We brought together four experts with different perspectives to facilitate a discussion on how the rail industry, central and local government and the private sector need to work together to unlock their potential.
Mike Goggin, UK Managing Director at Steer, chaired the panel and was joined by Lord Adonis, former Secretary of State for Transport; TfGM’s Transport Strategy Director Simon Warburton; Rob Heasman, Project Director for Euston at Lendlease; and Jeremy Long, MTR’s CEO of European Business. These four eminent speakers provided stimulating and varying perspectives on how to unlock the station estate potential for placemaking and advancing the social and economic agenda of Britain’s towns and cities.
You can read a full written PDF report of the event here - Britain's stations as placemakers summary (PDF).
Linked below are six videos, one for each speaker presentation and the Q&A. Click through to access each presentation. You can also find images from the event on Flickr.