Who we work with
Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. By working together and sharing knowledge, skills and resources, we can build a better-connected region for everyone.
Business and Transport Forum
Our Transport and Business Forum is a stakeholder advisory group that helps inform the work of the Western Gateway.
Meetings take place twice a year and welcome a broad range of representatives such as:
- Confederation of Business and Industry (CBI)
- Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT)
- Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT)
along with universities, public transport operators, airport authorities, port authorities, government and national agencies. This allows us to explore and develop transportation solutions for our local communities.
Other forums
Coach forum
We are the first sub-national transport body in England to host a coach forum. Twice a year, we bring together a wide range of stakeholders from across Western Gateway STB region and beyond, to discuss the industry and look at how we can improve elements like connectivity, accessibility, decarbonisation, facilities and user information – to name a few!
Freight forums
We put the weight behind freight with our quarterly freight forums, which cover Aviation, Maritime, Rail and Road.
Hop on board
Fancy joining one of our forums? Get in touch and we’ll add you to the invite list.
Partners
We work closely with the Department for Transport, Network Rail and National Highways to align national, regional and local priorities.
Department for Transport
National Highways
Network Rail
Our officer groups
Senior Officer Group (SOG)
We work closely with senior officers across our Local Authorities. SOG provides expertise and recommendations to the Partnership Board and oversees delivery of the Western Gateway programme. Meetings are held monthly, with one senior officer from each constituent Authority represented. Typically, these meetings also include updates from our partners at Network Rail and National Highways.
Programme Management Group
Every Monday, we hold a Programme Management meeting with key authority officers from the constituent Authorities and our marketing consultant. This group co-ordinates the Western Gateway work programme and manage the day to day operation of the Western Gateway. It co-ordinates and administers the meetings of the Western Gateway Partnership Board as well as manages finances of the overall programme.
Our rail groups
Rail Officer Group (ROG)
The Rail Officer Group meets monthly to provide updates on the Western Gateway’s rail programme to officers from our nine local authorities and get their input. Wider rail issues are discussed, which includes creating joint responses to rail industry consultations.
Community Rail Partnership
We host quarterly meetings with six Community Rail Partnerships in the region. We value their innovative work on encouraging rail use for everyone. Our meetings are two way with updates provided on the work of the Western Gateway and the Partnerships updating on their activities. With so much happening on rail, we’re moving the frequency of meetings to every two months.
Other STBs
We work closely with our neighbouring strategic transport bodies to ensure a joined up approach. We’re working with Peninsula Transport to shift the gears on an electric vehicle strategy, and have rolled out our freight forum with them too.
The other STBs are:
Peninsula Transport
Midlands Connect
England’s Economic Heartland
Transport for the North
Transport for the South East
