Plenary and keynote programme
Thought leadership and big thinking on the challenges and opportunities in delivering seamless, integrated, resilient and decarbonised transport systems for all
KEYNOTE STAGE SPONSOR
3 March, Day 1
Session: 09.40-10.00
➜ Keynote stage
Welcome
Rachel Skinner, Managing Director, Transport & Mobility, WSP | Chair Interchange steering committee
Richard McGuckin, Chair of the Urban Transport Group; Deputy Chief Executive, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Session: 10.00-11.00
➜ Keynote stage
Mayoral panel
Moderator: Nicola Kane, Chair, Transport Planning Society
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region
David Skaith, Mayor of North Yorkshire
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands
Session: 12.15-12.40
➜ Keynote stage
Economic opportunity through transport
Peter Hogg, UK Director, Arcadis and CBI Senior Council Chair
Jonathan Seagar, Policy Director, Research & Impact, BusinessLDN
Helen Murphy, Sector & Market Director for Rail UK & Ireland, Arcadis
Session: 12.45-13.10
➜ Keynote stage
The future of transport in London
Andy Lord, Commissioner, Transport for London
Session: 13.15-13.40
➜ Keynote stage
Infrastructure as identity: from platform to place
Transport infrastructure does more than move people – it provides an opportunity to express the identity of a local place. Reflecting on his early design days in Manchester, Julian Maynard will explore how the convergence of passenger experience and architectural ambition shape a memorable sense of arrival and stronger civic culture.
Julian Maynard, CEO, Maynard
Session: 13.45-14.10
➜ Keynote stage
International perspectives on delivering integrated transport
Simon Swan, Global Solution Director for New Mobility, Arcadis
Jukka-Pekka Pitkänen, Commercial Director, Global Business Area Transport, Ramboll
Session: 14.15-14.40
➜ Keynote stage
Launch of the transport integration taskforce
Naomi Green, Managing Director, England’s Economic Heartland
Danny Williams, Director for Integrated National Transport Strategy, DfT
Stephen Joseph, Chair, Integration Taskforce
Session: 14.45-15.10
➜ Keynote stage
Strategies to increase public transport access to airports
How two of the UK’s busiest airports are approaching the shared challenge of increasing surface access by public transport while maintaining reliability, affordability and passenger satisfaction. The session will also explore how airports are working with national and local transport authorities and local communities to improve connectivity, shift behaviour and reduce emissions.
Hannah Godfrey, Senior Surface Access manager, Gatwick Airport
Tim Leech, Head of Surface Access, Heathrow Airport
Session: 15.15-15.40
➜ Keynote stage
Is quality just a nice to have?
We operate in a market which is quite rightly concerned with dealing with the ‘numbers’ but in the process customer experience and quality of environment can tend to get sidelined. How might we arrange things to get the two working together in support of each other?
Eamon Nolan, Project Director, Pascall+Watson
Alister Kratt, Director Energy and Infrastructure, LDA Design
Charles Brindley, Experience Designer, Active Thinking
Session: 15.45-16.10
➜ Keynote stage
Northern Powerhouse Rail and Manchester Airport — better connecting the North
Northern Powerhouse Rail will transform east–west connectivity across the North, linking major city regions with faster and more reliable services. The programme is also central to Manchester Airport’s ambitions, positioning the airport as a key hub that strengthens both national and international connections and supports wider economic growth.
Henri Murison, Chief Executive, The Northern Powerhouse Partnership
Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director, Manchester Airport
Session: 16.15-16.40
➜ Keynote stage
Launch of the 2026 Global Public Transit Index
By understanding how different networks perform in comparable conditions, new approaches and ideas can emerge. What can we learn from cities such as Manchester, Milan and Tokyo?
Miki Szikszai, CEO and founder, Snapper Services
Session: 16.45-17.10
➜ Keynote stage
Coventry's Very Light Rail scheme: a first of a kind for the UK infrastructure sector
Nicola Small, Coventry VLR Programme Director, Coventry City Council and Regional Programme Director, Transport for West Midlands
Iain Anderson, Managing Director, Colas Rail Urban & Industries
Session: 17.15-17.45
➜ Keynote stage
Shared experience as the golden thread linking vision to reality
Adam Scott, founder, Experience Foundation
Hiro Aso, Transport Hubs Sector Lead, Jacobs
KEYNOTE STAGE SPONSOR
4 March, Day 2
Session: 08.45-09.30
➜ Keynote stage
Women in Transport breakfast briefing: Leaving a legacy —how regional transport programmes can shape skills, communities and opportunity
Pecha Kucha style with Joanna Hill, Santana Deen, Rachelle Forsyth-Ward, Sima Alavi, Fiona Cane, Alison Chew, Gary Evans
Session: 09.30-09.35
➜ Keynote stage
Welcome
Steve Norris, President, ITS UK | former Transport Minister | Chair, Meetings of Minds
Session: 09.35-10.00
➜ Keynote stage
Opening keynote: small journeys, big impact: building an active travel nation
What if the school run could cut congestion, improve health and boost local economies? Discover how devolved leadership is already delivering results, and how Active Travel England is supporting regions to build networks that make walking and cycling viable for millions.
Chris Boardman, Chair, Active Travel England
Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Lead, Arup
Session: 10.00-10.15
➜ Keynote stage
A decade of transport-led growth — and what comes next
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Session: 10.15-11.00
➜ Keynote stage
Transport devolution panel
including:
Moderator: Colette Carroll, Managing Director Transportation, AtkinsRéalis
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England
Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands
Jan Chaudhry van der Velde, Strategic Projects Director, Transport for Wales
Session: 11.10-11.15
➜ Keynote stage
Data in action: how did you travel to Interchange?
Headline insights from our experiment using anonymised data generated by delegates who downloaded the MyWays app, the underpinnings of the award winning DfT-funded Fusion project
Andreas Zachariah, CEO, TravelAi
Session: 11.15-11.40
➜ Keynote stage
DfT’s Data Action Plan explained and maximising the value of data
Sam Rose, Director for Data and Advanced Analytics, DfT
Professor Sarah Sharples, Vice-President and Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Manchester
Session: 11.45-12.10
➜ Keynote stage
Maintaining public support during disruptive change
How do you bridge the gap between vision and delivery and how do you implement change in existing communities, where you’ve got existing residents and businesses.
Dave Beddell, Director of Strategic Growth, Octavius
Anne Marie Purcell, founder, Purcell Advisory
Session: 12.15-13.15
➜ Keynote stage
Skills keynote and panel
Moderator: Donna Howard, Head of Social Impact and Inclusion, Kier Group
Bobbie Perks, General Manager, Kier Group
Sophie Radford, Head of Partnerships, Zero Gravity
Andrew Stephenson, Procurement Director, National Highways
Sue Percy, Chief Executive, CIHT
Steph Tickle, Head of Employment (North West), ltsb
Session: 13.20-13.45
➜ Keynote stage
Security by design: building trust into the future of connected infrastructure
As digital integration accelerates across roads, fleets, grids, and mobility services, strengthening cyber and operational resilience builds public trust and new possibilities. In this fireside chat, National Highways and PA Consulting explore how security by design can protect intelligent transport systems, ensure long-term reliability, and support safer, more reliable user experiences. Drawing on lessons from the UK’s strategic road network, we share practical steps the wider sector can take to secure increasingly connected infrastructure from the start.
Mike Brass, Head of Security Services, National Highways
Dimitri Konstantinidis, Transport Infrastructure Expert, PA Consulting
Session: 13.50-14.15
➜ Keynote stage
Building connected communities: AWS and the Future of UK Transport
Leanne Hurrell, Head of Regional Public Sector, UK, AWS
Session: 14.20-14.45
➜ Keynote stage
Major Ports – the DUAL in the Crown
In a period of global upheaval, the dual-use role of major ports
— supporting both commercial trade and military resilience — has never been more critical to the UK’s critical national infrastructure. Meeting this challenge demands new thinking from operators, government, local authorities and agencies on connectivity, the energy transition, and regulatory frameworks that are genuinely fit for purpose.
Geraint Evans, Chief Executive, UK Major Ports Group
Session: 14.50-15.15
➜ Keynote stage
How to attract private investment to boost infrastructure projects across the UK
This conversation brings together M6toll General Manager Michael Wheeler and Investment Director Lee Belfield (LPPO/GLIL Infrastructure) to explore how public–private collaboration and long-term financing models can attract capital into major projects, as well as what this means for delivering the UK’s future transport infrastructure.”
Michael Whelan, General Manager, M6toll
Lee Belfield, Investment Director, Direct Infrastructure Investments, LPPI and GLIL Infrastructure