At the Heritage Railway Association‘s autumn conference the delegates agreed on ways to share safety information among heritage railways and how to meet the enormous financial challenges the sector faces.

The event was held in Birmingham on November 1st and 2nd, and over 200 representatives from UK heritage railways heard 23 speakers and contributors discuss a range of topics from the latest innovations in structural engineering to marketing strategy and volunteer recruitment to next year’s economic and cost challenges.

The Keynote speaker for the event was Network Rail Chairman Sir Peter Hendy. He explained how the national network is currently performing, and how it can work with heritage railways, as well as expanding on plans to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. He highlighted how Network Rail plans to ensure that the anniversary celebrations reach every corner of the UK, and his hopes that they will inspire newcomers to both the national network and heritage railways.

Among other speakers were the heritage rail industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road. Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways, Richard Hines; Head of Non-Mainline Railways Patrick Talbot; and Principal Inspector of Railways, Simon Barber.

A panel discussion with leading figures from the heritage sector included Paul Lewin from the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways, Nick Ralls from Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, Simon Marsh from the Kent and East Sussex Railway, Chris Price from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and Watercress Line CEO Amanda Squires, and answered questions about how the sector is facing the economic climate.

The panel called for the sector’s boards, staff, volunteers, members, and supporters across the sector to collaborate on sharing ideas and challenges, highlighted the need for clear and supportive governance and confident decision-making on pricing, and stressed the importance that customers and visitors should be given an excellent experience. In another session.

West Somerset Railway General Manager, Kerry Noble explained how, after a difficult few years, the West Somerset was turning itself around financially and organisationally.

The Heritage Railway Association’s Operating and Safety has developed a new safety information-sharing process that will ensure that association members are kept up to date with the sector’s latest safety information. It will also include sharing learning outcomes from ‘near misses’ until now have often only been shared internally.

Stuart Hendry of the West Somerset Railway, who formerly had a senior signalling role on the national network, talked about his personal experience of being on-site at rail disasters on the national network, and the importance of recognising when someone needs support with their mental health.

Chief Executive of the Heritage Railway Association, Steve Oates, said: “These conferences have rapidly become the most important way that the heritage rail sector shares best practice. They’re also the best opportunity anywhere to hear from the top thinkers and most influential figures in our sphere.

“I was really heartened by how engaged the Office of Road and Rail were with this conference, and also how openly so many railways spoke about the methods they’re using to tackle the huge challenges being faced in the sector right now.”

“If I was to highlight one takeaway point from the conference, it would undoubtedly be the focus and passion on ensuring everyone pulls together to get through the huge externally driven challenges heritage rail faces. From coal to staffing and of course the huge cost of living impact on our customers, it’s a difficult period to be a heritage railway and it’s certainly not a time for divisiveness. But lots of speakers were very clear that they are grasping the challenges and adapting quickly to ensure their railway survives and thrives.”