Motion blur of a train speeding along curved railway tracks at dusk, silhouetted against an orange sky.
Event summaries, slides and recordings

Lunchtime Briefing with Conrad Bailey, Director General, Rail Strategy and Services Group, Department for Transport

Author WIG Date 2 Nov 2023

We are delighted to host Conrad Bailey for this lunchtime briefing to share insight into his team’s priorities at the DfT

Theme(s)

New partnership on infrastructure

Over the last two years rail usage in the UK has been steadily increasing, following the pandemic. However government statistics for 2022 show that at their peak in March passenger journeys were still only 73% of an equivalent day pre-COVID-19. Responding to shifts in commuting patterns, ongoing strike action, changes to franchises, and the establishment of Great British Railways are some of the challenges ahead for the Rail Strategy and Services Group. There are also significant opportunities to modernise the UK’s railways; harnessing technological change to support a UK wide green economy and improve passenger experience, which will require concerted cross-sector collaboration to action.   

We are delighted to host Conrad Bailey for this lunchtime briefing to share insight into his team’s priorities for the months and years ahead. Join us for your opportunity to:

  • Understand focus areas for the DfT’s Rail Strategy and Services Group and how they relate to broader government policy such as levelling-up and Net Zero
  • Identify where there is opportunity for your organisation to support the delivery of a future-proofed UK rail network

To access this resource you must be a WIG member and logged in to our website. 

You can register or log-in here. 

Speaker at the Event

Conrad Bailey is Director General Public Transport and Local Group at the Department for Transport (DfT).

Conrad joined DfT in 2018. Between 2021 and 2024, he was the Director General Rail Strategy and Services Group. In 2020, Conrad led the department’s response to COVID-19. Before that, he was the Director of Rail Strategy, Reform and Analysis and Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Williams Rail Review.

Before joining DfT in 2018, Conrad worked in the Cabinet Office, No 10, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence in various strategy, policy, operational and business-facing roles.

Conrad is the DFT’s Social Mobility and Neurodiversity champion.

Conrad has an Executive Masters in Public Policy and a BSc (Econ.) in history from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).