Andrew McNaughton, the Chief Engineer of High Speed Two, the company set up to develop high speed rail in Britain, will give a talk at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Railway Research and Education on Thursday 18 March 2010 at 5pm.

Andrew McNaughton has been involved in railway engineering and management since 1973. His first 20 years at British Rail were engaged with maintenance, renewal and upgrade work including leading rebuilding Kent’s railways for the first decade of Channel Tunnel operation. In 1993 he joined Railtrack, becoming Head of Production and Director, Great Western. From 2001, as Chief Engineer, Network Rail, he led the recovery of the GB rail network.

High speed rail has been successfully developed in Europe and Asia to enable a step change in passenger journey times and reliability over conventional rail and provide a genuine alternative to short haul air and long distance motorway travel, promoting economic growth in many countries.

This talk will describe the technical challenges of developing high speed rail in general and specifically within the particular physical and economic geography of Great Britain. It will cover environmental and energy use implications along with the realities of potential modal shift from car and plane. The development of the shape of the longer term network will also be discussed along with the proposals for the preferred route and stations in the West Midlands.

The talk takes place at the Gisbert Kapp Building and those wishing to attend the talk can register at Birmingham’s online shop:

https://www.bhamonlineshop.co.uk/events/eventdetails.asp?eventid=153  

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For further media information

Kate Chapple, Press Officer, University of Birmingham, tel 0121 414 2772 or 07789 921164.