In many countries, the challenges of sustainable urban development along with preoccupations about energy costs, are leading developers and urban planners to place rail transport at the centre of their concerns. During 2012 members of the French and British Planning Studies Group based at the University of Liverpool and University of Paris 1-Sorbonne have been collaborating on hosting two seminars dedicated to the theme of rail transport and urban development. The intention has been to bring together academics with practitioners and also incorporate visits to view rail investments ‘on the ground’. The first event took place in Paris in May 2012 and addressed light rail development in Europe with a particular focus on the situation in the UK and France. The second seminar will take place in Liverpool on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 November 2012 and consider heavy rail as a means of serving urban development in metropolitan areas.

Second Seminar: Heavy rails and metropolitan development in France and Great Britain (Liverpool, 29-30 November 2012)

Programme

Thursday 29 November     

Location: Seminar Room 3, University of Liverpool Management School, Liverpool, L69 7ZH.

09.00    Registration

Workshop 1 / (09.30-11.45) - The long view on railway networks and urban development

• Etienne Auphan (Paris IV Sorbonne): The Railway Heritage of France - a valued legacy or a squandered resource?
• Angela Connelly (University of Manchester):The Railway Heritage of Liverpool and Manchester – pioneers of urban and interurban rail.

10.30-10.45 Tea Break

• Xavier Desjardins (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR Géographie Cités,CRIA): Has the Evolution of rail accessibility in the Ile-de-France region between 1975 and 2012 contributed to a reduction in social disparities?
• Michael Hebbert (Bartlett School of Planning at University College London): The ‘Crossrail’ Project - towards a real ‘Réseau  Express Régional’(RER) for London?

11.45-12.00 - Discussion

12.00-13.30 – Lunch

Workshop 2 / (13.30  – 16.15) - Urban Policy and the management of networks : the articulation of actors and strategies

• Juliette Maulat (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR Géographie-Cités, CRIA, RFF) : Corridor contracts in France: a pragmatic tool to coordinate urban planning and regional railway transport projects ?
• Caroline Gallez (IFSTTAR, LVMT): Territorial development contracts: multiscale negotiation of the link between public transport and urban planning in the Greater Paris Region.

14.30-14.45  Tea Break 

• Richard Cass and Gary Williams (Cass Associates): The potential for development around nodes on the Merseyrail network.
• Antoine Brès (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR Géographie Cités, CRIA): Train stations in areas of low density and scattered  urbanisation: a specific rail-oriented development.

15.45-16.15  Discussion
16.15-16.30  Introduction to the mobile workshop
16.45-17.45  Meeting of the French and British Planning Study Group

Friday 30 November     

Mobile workshop / (09.30-12.45)- The Merseyrail Network a guided visit

Workshop 4 / (14.00 - 16.30)- Transformations of the rail system and impacts on the coherence of planning and the rail network

• Etienne Riot (Ifstarr, LVMT): Planning for major stations – the cases of London and Paris.
• Chia-Lin Chen, (Bartlett School of Planning at University College London): Contrasting linkages between urban and high speed rail networks in France and England – the cases of Lille and Manchester.

15.00 -15.15 – Tea break

• David Thrower (Independent transport consultant): Developing rail services in the north of England.
• Ian Wray (University of Liverpool): Liverpool to Manchester and beyond: the potential and opportunity for rail led regeneration on a northern electric spine.

16.15-16.30 – Summation of the proceedings and close of seminar

Registration

• Registration is free but numbers are limited on a first come, first served basis.
• For further information and to register :urbanrails2012@gmail.com