• How do you move from strategy to action with a clear line of sight back to your end customer, putting passengers and freight users first
• Taking strategy into operational action, aligning cost benefits with key sustainability pillars required to deliver business case of change that delivers on all fronts
• With challenges to reduce cost and find efficiencies, how do we create the space for senior leadership to create new solutions to drive us towards net zero
• The art of the possible, benefits and rewards of focusing time and resources on the quick wins rather than obsessing about the big challenges
• Using AI to bring together information and present it in standardized business case format that that gives clarity and defines the key change aspects of the project

• Transitioning to a changing climate, building resilience to the impacts of weather and climate change, creating transition plans that combine decarbonisation goals and climate resilience
• Challenges for train operators in determining strategies for climate adaption, managing the physical risks to train operations and ensuring your infrastructure owner is addressing those risk
• Climate adaptive infrastructure, how do we adapt our infrastructure to keep up with the current changes in climate change and the climate projections in 20 years
• Setting standards on climate and whether risk assessments, how can the industry unpack all the data to deliver a comprehensive strategy moving forward

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• Examining strategies to manage and adapt legacy infrastructure to keep up with climate changes and future rail growth, intensified traffic, increased frequency of trains, and higher velocities
• As part of a larger transport network including walking, cycling, driving, how do we enable total mobility in the event of climate related issues to minimise disruptions to the end customers
• Understanding the requirements needed to drive environmental management improvements in services and operations, implementing sustainable practices and regulatory frameworks in rail
• The advancement of digital twins in infrastructure design build projects, sustainability design benefits of BIM, digitalizing the whole construct rather than design build construction
• How can advancements in visualisation and parametric design help rail organisation to achieve a higher level of sustainability

• Understanding the current state of your organisation, who are the main suppliers, where are they based and do they have sustainability requirements
• Working with suppliers to introduce a co-ordinated approach to improve collaboration and reduce bureaucracy, deliver standardization and avoid waste in rail supply chains
• Examining impact of contractual requirements on the supply chain, making sure your suppliers have sustainability requirements to address environmental and social risks in the supply chain
• supply chain sustainability for infrastructure operations, designing and mandating a curriculum for smaller suppliers, implementing common industry standard in working with supplier
• building a stronger supply chain, creating partnerships and cross industry working groups to increase sustainability, circularity and reduce waste management

• What is the current strategy for replacing the current ongoing electrification projects, ramping up electrification to 350 kilometres a year to meet the industry’s commitment to Net Zero
• Does the UK rail industry run the risks of losing its credentials if we keep missing yearly targets on electrification growth.
• Optimising the efficiency of delivering electrification projects, focusing on efficiency and implementation rather innovation
• Planning to ensure a strong focus on specific goals within each five-year cycle, while also maintaining a long-term vision, establishing a successful strategic roadmap to electrification
• What are the economical and practical options for investments in the non-electrified section of rail, accessing the current developments in battery, hydrogen and biofuels?
• Does the UK rail industry face an existential risk in loosing critical knowledge of skilled high voltage engineers to other industries, securing the long-term viability of the business

• What is the current investment strategy for procuring new energy efficient rolling stock to meet net zero commitments and future passenger demand
• Electrifying and buying battery trains in the UK, who makes the call
• What strategies is the rail industry implementing to deliver investments and accelerate the decarbonization of diesel rolling stock still in operation
• What are the policy and commercial challenges that are stopping us moving forward
• Modelling for success, what models are rolling stock operators and franchise using to determine investments in alternative fuels and drives, battery trains, electrification or hydrogen?
• How are freight operators making contingency plans on renewing their freight locomotives without knowing which routes will be electrified, the rise of the multi-mode locomotive

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• The evolution of batter technology for rolling stock fleets, and maintenance vehicles
• How are operators optimising waste requirements schemes and circularity when decommissioning the diesel trains still in operations
• Examining the alternatives for freight operators, what are the cost of investing in hybrid batter and fuel locomotives freight locomotives and engineering trains
• Considering the requirements for your charging infrastructure for your new batter trains
• Advancements in rechargeable and long-life batteries for long-distance passenger rolling stock trials

• Introduction to the newly launched Greener Railway Strategy, challenging the myths on the cost of delivering sustainability in rail
• Evolution from the 5-year blueprint to present, whole-life costing and real world case studies on low-emission materials
• Internal vs external stakeholder engagement, navigating resistance internally and across the supply chain
• Aligning with Great British Railways and the Sustainable Rail Blueprint to develop a long-term vision on building a resilient net zero rail network

• Understanding the challenges of integrating new energy efficiency solutions, renewable, natural gas, and other alternatives in rail to reduce consumption and meet scope one targets
• What energy sources, alternative fuels or propulsions systems are rail organisation exploring globally to meet their net zero commitments
• Exploring alternative drives and fuels and their practical application in rail operations and maintenance to reduce emissions
• Looking to the future, research and development and investing in finding new fuel solutions for applications in industries like rail

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• Integrating biodiversity, circular economy and resource protection in rail net zero, implementing process efficiencies, nature-based solutions and technology to deliver net zero emission in rail
• How can biodiversity support engineering management in the building and maintenance of railways, reducing signal sighting issues or flooding risk
• Examine how introducing biodiversity can help improve the success rate of planning permission applications for new build projects
• Choosing the right species of or the right habitat to have next to your railway, managing tree heights, reduce the number of leaves on the line or delivering sustainable drainage system
• Recognising and understanding the value of nature-based solutions for specific railway challenges, mitigating the impacts of extreme weather events and reducing maintenance cost
• Application of biodiversity in rail, actively managing and controlling the spread of both invasive and non-invasive animals to improve the management of tracks and infrastructure

• Boosting knowledge sharing and collaboration with stakeholders, suppliers and industries to achieve net zero rail
• Creating networks to enhance project management and information sharing, creating the space for technical, governance and management conversations to drive forward solutions in projects
• Improving communication across the industry, setting up a coordinating voice within sustainability and rail to drive forward the wider impacts of social mobility rail offers
• How do we create the space for senior leadership to create new solutions to drive us towards net zero, improving the sharing of knowledge in forums that the deliver productive outcomes
• Improving the cross-industry collaboration, providing formats for infrastructure, rolling stock, supplier and government institutions to foster partnership
• How can infrastructure owners and rolling stock operators come together to optimise the operations deliver a co-ordinated approach to tacking sustainability

• How is the industry embedding principles around emissions, natural environment and social sustainability, enabling executive teams, workforce and stakeholders through cultural change
• Embracing innovation, digital technology, making better use of data to drive behavioural change within the internal organisation
• Applying systems thinking in environmental rail, viewing sustainability within the business context to optimise cost reduction and drive service improvements
• Understanding the requirement needed to drive environmental management improvements in the services that rail industry provides and the projects rail companies deliver
• Introducing sustainability by design workshops for rail projects as hotbeds of ideas and innovation creation, capturing and feeding back information to product design teams

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