Webinar & Online Conference Reads

Interesting free and low cost online rail and transport webinars and conferences from around the world. Updated 20 January 2025.

• The High Speed Rail Alliance is hosting the free webinar Fixing Chicago Union Station. Learn about the five essential fixes needed to remake Union Station into the hub for a modern rail network, high speed rail network, and a powerful engine of the region’s economy. Amtrak & the State of Illinois are planning important improvements to the station, but additional work will allow the station to reach its full potential. Its two square blocks can have the economic impact of a major airport – right downtown. This event will take place on Friday 24 January 2025, 1-2pm EDT (6-7pm GMT).

• Global Railway Review is hosting the free webinar Forging Tracks: Looking at the latest Infrastructure Projects. The panelists will explore major global projects like the Grand Paris Express, HS2, and India’s Delhi-Mumbai High-Speed Rail Corridor to learn how they are revolutionising transit, enhancing connectivity, and driving sustainable urban development. This event will take place on Friday 14 February 2025, 1.30-3pm GMT (8:30-10am EST). [New]

• UK Tram is hosting the free webinar Beyond the Tracks: What’s the Cost of True Urban Regeneration?. Light rail and mass transit projects have the potential to transform cities as part of the UK’s bold vision for multimodal connectivity and sustainable growth. But what planning, funding, and collaboration approaches are needed to unlock their full socio-economic benefits? This event will take place on Tuesday 28 January 2025, 1-2pm GMT (6-7pm EDT). [New]

• Untapped Cities is hosting the free webinar How to Make a Subway Map, with John Tauranac. Learn about the process of creating the official MTA subway map of 1979, the basis of the map we use today, & hear about “The Great Subway Map” debate of 1978 between Tauranac and Massimo Vignelli. This event will take place on Wednesday 29 January 2025, 6-7pm EDT (11pm-12am GMT). [New]

• The High Speed Rail Alliance is hosting the free webinar The Overnight Sleeper Trains’ Role in America’s Transportation Infrastructure. Dreamstar Lines is presenting their reimagination of the overnight train experience, creating a new standard in US sleeper trains, addressing gaps left by current inter-regional services and offering a compelling alternative to air & car travel. This event will take place on Friday 14 February 2025, 1-2pm EDT (6-7pm GMT).

• Cities for Everyone, with Gil is hosting the free webinar The French Case: Stations as City Boosters. Fabrice Morenon PhD, Managing Director of SNCF Hubs & Connexions, will discuss how French rail stations serve as catalysts for urban & regional growth, drawing upon examples from stations in Lyon & Bordeaux, as well as smaller cities like Besançon. This event will take place on Wednesday 11 December 2024, 3-4pm EDT (8-9pm GMT). [Past]

• The High Speed Rail Alliance is hosting the free webinar The Spanish Case: Transformacion Rápida. This webinar explores how high-speed rail has transformed Spanish society and its economy, with international rail expert Eduardo Romo. Despite starting later in high-speed rail than some countries, Spain now has the greatest amount of track mileage in Europe and the second most in the world. This event will take place on Wednesday 15 January 2025, 3-4pm EDT (8-9pm GMT). [Past]

Do double check all times when registering, as they are sometimes hosted in different countries and time zones, what with different, chaotic Daylight Savings regimes, or even better, no Daylight Savings at all.

North American In Person Events

• The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) International Convention took place 26-30 August 2024 in Toronto, Canada. [LR is preparing an article on the State of the Art Signalling, and future trends.]

European & Global Conferences

• The Transit Mapping Symposium hosted its three day Symposium Wayfinding, the art of influencing flows at New York University in Abu Dhabi from 28 February to 1 March 2024. Some videos of the presentations have been featured in LR’s Monday/Friday Reads.

On Demand Events

• Hybrid Air Vehicles (ITDP) produced a webinar on How hybrid airship could transform maritime defence operations – A closer look at Airlander. Capt Ben Cohen, US Marines Corps and Gary Waterfall, HAV advisor and former RAF Air Vice Marshal, discussed the role hybrid aircraft, like Airlander, can play in maritime operations such as logistics and communications in contested environments.

• The High Speed Rail Alliance is hosting a webinar Crossrail Chicago: The Foundation for a Modern Travel Network. This proposal aims to connect and upgrade existing Metra lines to create an electrified, passenger-dedicated mainline through the city. This link would provide intercity train service to key locations in downtown, as well as O’Hare International Airport. CrossRail Chicago would span the metro area with high-capacity, passenger-focused rail lines, and form the core of a Midwest high-speed rail network.

• The Eno Center for Transportation has recorded its webinar Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US and Canadian Transit. Christof Spieler, Senior Lecturer, Rice University recently released the second edition of his wildly popular book Trains, Buses, People, which now covers eight Canadian cities & two new US cities. In this webinar he discusses the evolving conversation around transit in the past three years since the book originally published, plus updates around fare policies, wayfinding, transit governance structures, customer experience, and how to create inclusive transit systems that work for all riders.

• The Global Railway Review presents a free webinar on A strategic approach to deliver rail decarbonisation, featuring speakers from the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) and the Railway Industry Association (RIA).

• The Victoria Society presents an illustrated virtual lecture led by author and historian Dr Steven Brindle – who will present an in-depth exploration of Queen Victoria’s use of the railways. After taking her first railway journey in June 1842, Steven will discuss how Queen Victoria got to and from Windsor, Osborne and Balmoral, some of the special stations, waiting rooms and trains that were built for her, and her longer continental rail journeys. Whilst the live lecture has passed, you can still view the recording for £5.

Found an event you’d like to share? Email us at [email protected].

LR will be moderating the comments, and deleting marketing event spam, so that this list does not get inundated with already well publicised events.