I am just back from London,where I hosted a Poland/Romania/UK rail for growth event.
Both the Polish and Romanian delegations were led by Ministers and included government representatives and rail industry experts. Both countries saw similar key challenges and opportunities in areas like safety, project management and funding future investment, for example the use of Public Private Partnership to renew stations. Both were keen to benefit from our strong track record in these areas and keen to learn how we had delivered such strong growth in passenger numbers.
A highlight of the visit was a visit to one of the sites of the Crossrail west to east railway infrastructure project where we saw at first hand the challenges of delivering a multi-billion pound project in a densely populated area with an existing underground railway.
I am convinced that UK expertise can help develop the Polish and Romanian railway infrastructure to the point where both countries will once again see strong growth in passenger numbers with all the economic and environmental benefits that will bring. Our one mistake. Bringing the Polish Minister to the centre of London by car not rail.
We will know better next time!