The Fourth Friday Club is the original networking forum for executives from all sectors of the railway industry. It was founded by former Modern Railways Editor James Abbott, based on an industry networking club he discovered in the USA.
Meetings are held six times per year, and all feature networking opportunities, luncheon and guest speakers. Three events are at central London venues and include major industry awards events – the Golden Spanners, Golden Whistles and Railway Industry Innovation Awards. Three regional conferences are also held each year in the North of England, West of England/Wales and the Midlands.
Becoming a Member
Fourth Friday Club membership now includes entry to all SIX events per year for just £765 + VAT.
To join, or to request further information please contact Chris Shilling via email chris@shillingmedia.co.uk or call on 07736 635916
Upcoming Events
Railway Industry Innovation Awards
Event Date:
Founded in 1998, the Awards are the annual event at which everybody keen on seeing innovation in the railway sector meets up to discuss and celebrate the brightest ideas in the industry.
Sponsored by: BR Fares, RIA, Porterbrook, IRO, Resonate, Houghton International, Hitachi Information Control Systems Europe and Thales
Rail in the North of England
Event Date:
Now established as an annual fixture, the Northern Rail Conference celebrates progress in the modernisation and improvement of the railways of the North of England.
Golden Whistle Awards
Event Date:
The brainchild of Institution of Railway Operators luminary and now West Dorset MP Chris Loder, the Golden Whistles event was founded in 2010 to promote best practice and celebrate excellence in railway operations.
Sponsored by Tracsis
Golden Spanner Awards
Event Date:
The Golden Spanners is an annual event at which all those interested in railway rolling stock meet to discuss best practice and celebrate excellence in train maintenance.
Sponsored by Houghton International.
Rail in the North of England
to
York, United Kingdom
Now established as an annual fixture, the Northern Rail Conference celebrates progress in the modernisation and improvement of the railways of the North of England.
Railway Industry Innovation Awards
to
London, United Kingdom
Founded in 1998, the Awards are the annual event at which everybody keen on seeing innovation in the railway sector meets up to discuss and celebrate the brightest ideas in the industry.
Sponsored by: BR Fares, RIA, Porterbrook, IRO, Resonate, Houghton International, Hitachi Information Control Systems Europe and Thales
Rail in the Midlands
to
Derby, United Kingdom
It is an exciting time for Rail in the Midlands, with new franchises in place for both the East and West Midlands and new rolling stock on order, combined with infrastructure developments taking place across the region.
Rail in the Midlands Conference will now take place as part of the Modern Railways RVE event.
Golden Spanner Awards
to
London, United Kingdom
The Golden Spanners is an annual event at which all those interested in railway rolling stock meet to discuss best practice and celebrate excellence in train maintenance.
Sponsored by Houghton International.
Golden Whistle Awards
to
London, United Kingdom
The brainchild of Institution of Railway Operators luminary and now West Dorset MP Chris Loder, the Golden Whistles event was founded in 2010 to promote best practice and celebrate excellence in railway operations.
Sponsored by Tracsis
Latest from 4th Friday Club
Rail in the North of England - questions and answers
Post-event questions and answers from our online conference are reproduced here in full
Rail in Wales and the West - Session 3
Rolling stock developments in Wales – Andrew Gainsbury, Rolling Stock Manager, Transport for Wales. Operational skillsets – Rachel Heath, Council Chair for the Midlands, Institution of Railway Operators. Public services on heritage railways - Is there a role for heritage railways in meeting the transport needs of Wales and the West of England? - Chris Austin, Secretary, All Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Rail
Rail in Wales and the West - Session 2
Improving the Western Route – Mike Gallop, Director, Network Rail Western Route
A single source of truth for operational control and disruption management – Alex Robertson, Head of Business Development, Tracsis
Exploiting opportunities for rail freight growth in Wales and the West, Julian Worth, Chair of the CILT Rail Freight Forum
Rail in Wales and the West - Session 1
Transforming the Great Western – Mark Hopwood CBE, Managing Director, Great Western Railway
The reliability and sustainability challenge – Stephen McGurk, Chief Commercial Officer, Porterbrook
MetroWest developments – James White, Principal Transport Officer, West of England Combined Authority
Golden Spanner Awards 2020
The Golden Spanner awards celebrate the efforts of maintenance and depot teams in keeping trains running reliably. Roger Ford will reveal which fleets have won Gold, Silver and Bronze Spanners at our online event.
Rail in the North of England Conference Session 3
Welcome to the final session of the Modern Railways Fourth Friday Club's online Rail in the North of England conference. Today we welcome speakers from Merseytravel, TransPennine Express and Eversholt Rail.
Rail in the North of England conference - Session 2
This session features presentations from Robin Gisby, Chief Executive, DfT OLR Holdings Ltd. Ian Smith, Head of Innovation, Tracsis plc. Phil Smart, Railfuture Freight Group
Rail in the North of England conference - Session 1
This session features presentations from David Hoggarth, Strategic Rail Director, Transport for the North. Neal Fleming, Digital Services Project Manager, Porterbrook. Adrian Quine, Director, Rail Charter Services Ltd
Operations and Performance award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
Sponsored by Porterbrook, this category recognises innovations helping to improve the day-to-day running of the railway for both passenger and freight.
Environment award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
Environmental issues are high on the political agenda and the Covid crisis is only heightening our awareness of these challenges. Hear from our category sponsor BR Fares, which introduces our three shortlisted entries in this category...
Small Scale Project Award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
This category recognises innovations which do not necessarily grab the headlines but are still very worthy of recognition. The three shortlisted entries are introduced by category sponsor Houghton International
Passenger Experience award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
This category comprises entries focused on making journeys better for passengers, whether that’s through better information, an improved on-board experience or better customer service. The shortlisted entries are introduced by category sponsor the Institution of Railway Operators
Large project award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
The large project prize is awarded to an entry which makes a significant impact on the rail industry. The category is introduced by sponsor Thales, before chair of the judging panel Haydn Abbott explains how the judges selected the winner.
Engineering and Safety Award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
Running a safe and reliable railway is the number one objective for all operators, passenger and freight. In this category we see three very different innovations contributing to improvements in engineering and safety, introduced by category sponsor the Railway Industry Association
Special award for Covid-19 response - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
A significant number of entries to this year’s awards were innovations responding to the Covid-19 crisis, so the judges decided to create a special category recognising some of these. This category is sponsored by Hitachi Information Control Systems Europe, and the shortlist comprises
Cross Industry Partnership Award - Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020
The railway is a system and is therefore at its best when companies collaborate to improve the way it operates. Our category sponsor Resonate introduces three entries which demonstrate good examples of cross-industry working
Coming soon – the Railway Industry Innovation Awards
On Friday 23 October we will be holding an online version of our annual Railway Industry Innovation Awards, the longest standing awards event in the industry.
Fourth Friday Club events go online
In response to the continuing uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic, we regret that Modern Railways Fourth Friday Club events will not be held in person before next spring.
The Railway Industry Innovation Awards 2020 Entry Information
Entry information and form for the 2020 event