Press release -
West Midlands Railway partners with Malvern Festival of Innovation
Visitors to Great Malvern station will receive a special welcome this week as the Malvern Festival of Innovation gets under way - and takes over the platforms.
West Midlands Railway is an official travel partner for the week-long Festival, which starts today. To celebrate the partnership, official stickers have been added to the platforms at the station, which is within walking distance of all the business and family events open to the public.
The Festival is now in its eighth year and runs from October 7-12. Visitors can travel between Birmingham New Street and Hereford on ‘Innovation Shuttles’ to reach Great Malvern station.
Steven Fisher, head of on board for West Midlands Railway, said: “The rail industry is - and always has been - driven by innovation. We are investing £1bn into the network by providing things like new trains and improved stations.
"New ideas and innovative technologies are an essential part of delivering these improvements and festivals like this are an exciting part of building up the next generation of innovators.”
This year’s event features a keynote from science writer Marcus Chown on Bonkers Things About The Universe at the launch event in Malvern College this evening (Mon 7).
A series of fireside chats with business thought-leaders discussing how to start and grow your venture successfully takes place at the Coach House Theatre on Wednesday afternoon, followed that evening by three entrepreneurs telling their own business start-up stories.
Thursday sees a full day on Cyber Security at the Malvern Theatres, focusing on how to secure small medium enterprises and organisations using the latest technology and business insights.
Dr Adrian Burden, founder and curator of the Festival, said: “Our Environment & Sustainability symposium on Friday will discuss how important innovation is to solving some of the issues we face.
"Travelling by train to the Festival, rather than by car, will make an environmental difference. We’re delighted that West Midlands Railway are supporting the Festival as an official travel partner.”
The Festival rounds off on Saturday with a Family Show where the resident scientist from BBC’s The One Show will explore the world using the microscope.
More details about the Festival are available at www.festival-innovation.com
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About West Midlands Trains
For further information on this release, call our press office on 03300 955150 or email press.office@wmtrains.co.uk
West Midlands Trains operates both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway services.
- London Northwestern Railway services operate between Liverpool and Birmingham, and on the West Coast mainline to and from London Euston.
- West Midlands Railway services operate to destinations across the West Midlands via Birmingham New Street.
For more information on these services visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk or londonnorthwesternrailway.co.uk
The West Midlands Trains franchise started on 10 December 2017 and will run until 2025/26.
West Midlands Trains operates 1,300 services a day, manages 150 stations and provides over 70 million passenger journeys a year. Over the course of the franchise, West Midlands Trains will be investing £1 billion into the rail network to deliver new trains, improved routes and station upgrades. This will include 400 new train carriages across the network and space for an extra 85,000 passengers into Birmingham and London at peak times.
The franchise is a joint venture between Abellio (70.1% share) and East Japan Railway Company / Mitsui & Co., Ltd (29.9% share in a 50:50 split). Abellio is the international passenger transport subsidiary of the Dutch national railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen. In the UK, Abelllio operates ScotRail and Greater Anglia train services, Merseyrail services in a joint venture with Serco and buses through Abellio London. For more information visit www.abellio.com
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