Tuesday 15 July 2025, 1730, Susan Cadbury Theatre, Conference Aston
Aston University hosts an expert panel that will discuss the challenges and opportunities of the current railway industry.
Chair: Lucy Rackliff (Aston University) – Head of the Department of Engineering Management
Stephen Pauling: Senior Associate Director – Rail Planning, Jacobs
Stephen is a life-long transport planning professional, with a strong passion for rail. As Head of Rail Planning at Jacobs, Stephen has a tremendous depth of experience in rail and transport planning, and has engaged extensively with senior political leaders, including the Mayor of London and UK Government Ministers. Prior to joining Jacobs, Stephen spent ten years at Transport for London leading the planning for Crossrail 2, a £30bn new underground line planned for London.
Maggie Simpson OBE: Director General Railfreight Group
Maggie is Director General of the Rail Freight Group, the representative body for rail freight in the UK. Since joining in 2005 she has worked to promote growth in rail freight and to support member companies of the Group in their activities. She is also a Trustee of the Railway Benefit Fund.
Ruth Cumming: Transport for All
Transport for All’s mission is to break down barriers and transform the transport system, so that all disabled people can make the journeys we want, with freedom, dignity, ease, and confidence. Their work is rooted in the Social Model of Disability, which states that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment. Ruth is a highly motivated researcher with varied experience in quantitative, qualitative and geospatial data collection and analysis, from roles in academic research and the charity and public sectors. She has experience in designing and leading multiple research projects in the fields of linguistics, psychology and transport. Her recent research has focused on the social model of disability with.
Another speaker TBC.