The Railway Industry Association (RIA) this week has reached a record 300 members, welcoming global technology company IBM as the latest organisation to join. The news was announced at RIA’s Annual Parliamentary Reception, attended by more than 200 politicians and rail players from across the railway industry. The company received its membership certificate with Graham Stuart MP, International Trade Minister, with responsibility for Investment, at the presentation.
Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association, said: “It is fantastic news for the Railway Industry Association to hit our 300th member milestone at the start of such an exceptionally important year for rail. RIA’s membership has increased from 190 in 2017 to 300 at the start of this year, an increase of almost 60%, and we think this shows how important rail businesses feel it is to be part of a vibrant community which enables them to network with each other, clients and policy-makers, and to drive and benefit from the Association’s lobbying, policy, technical, exports, events, and market intelligence work.
“It is also great to reach this milestone in what is the 145th Anniversary Year of RIA, showing that – 145 years on from when we were first set up – RIA is still a go-to voice for the UK rail supply community, representing all types of businesses, from multinationals through to SMEs, in all parts of the country, and across all the various railway industry disciplines.
“We now welcome IBM to our rail family and thank all our members, both new and long-standing, for their continued support for RIA, as we work with them to help build an even bigger and better rail supply sector in the months and years ahead.”
