Comment from Nigel Harris, RAIL
BackWorking with the Rail Alliance to stage Rail Live 2018 was the achievement of a long-held personal ambition to stage the rail industry equivalent of an international air show. What I had dreamed of doing was combining the celebration of established technologies with a spotlight on the best of current practice, all underpinned by the excitement of innovation.
After five years or so of seeking the right site and team to work with, this recipe finally came together successfully at Quinton Rail Technology Centre in June 2018, when more than 5,000 visitors came along to see this unique new show.
Railway trade shows are not new, of course - this one has been running very successfully at QRTC each June since 2013, and has evolved over the years into the leading plant show of its kind - but Rail Live 2018 was an entirely new concept.
Rail trade shows generally take place in large exhibition centres with conventional display stands which, depending on their size, may feature a piece of shiny new equipment as a centrepiece.
That’s fine - and for many companies that sort of polished exhibition stand in a ‘suited and booted’ atmosphere is exactly what they require.
But what about manufacturers of large yellow plant machines and associated equipment which are too big to be thus displayed, or which would simply look out of place as an ornament in a ‘shed’?
Anyway, wouldn’t it be better to see some of this machinery actually in action? Doing its job? Wouldn’t manufacturers of fencing, embankment access steps and road-rail vehicles prefer to show their products in a live, proper railway setting? What if you put these two approaches together in that air show-style presentation?
That is Rail Live.
When? 19–20 June 2019
Where? Quinton Rail Technology Centre, Warwickshire
Entry? Free! Secure your complimentary pass here
Details? Find out more here
