"The lack of money is something that every candidate raised" said Steve Wright, Secretary of Railfuture (West Midlands), who organised the event. "There were many topics that came up, including buses, pollution, congestion and HS2, but the key issue was how does the West Midlands get its fair share of funding to make the transport improvements that the region desperately needs."

Five candidates for West Midlands mayor spoke at the Forum:
  • Beverley Nielsen (Lib Dem)
  • James Burn (Green)
  • Siôn Simon (Labour)
  • Pete Durnell (UKIP)
  • Andy Street (Conservative)
Click below to watch the video, and select fullscreen



Each candidate was given a three-minute opening and closing presentation. Candidates drew lots on the order they would speak. The meeting was chaired by Lorna Slade, editor of Rail Professional Magazine and a Railfuture Vice President. In addition to these five candidates, Graham Stevenson (Communist) submitted his nomination papers at the very last minute and was therefore too late to be invited to the debate.


Railfuture press release