Certificates of Excellence for Cross River Partnership and Maastricht
Certificates of Excellence were presented to the Cross River Partnership and Maastricht investment partners at the HST conference in May.
James Brathwaite, Chairman of SEEDA presented the certificates in recognition of their contribution to the quality of high-speed train access and better connections of regions and cities to the HST network.
About High Speed Trains
The High Speed Train network in North West Europe has to be highly connected to be successful, both as an economic operation itself and, beyond rail, successful to deliver sustainable economic growth.
That is why the HST projects focus on linking insufficiently connected systems. Spatial planning, economic planning, the HST network and regional transport are seen as one entity. The assumption is that by better integration of existing systems, relatively low financial expenditure and better usage of existing infrastructure, a high socio-economic added value can be realised.
The Projects concentrate on the weakest points of the European travel chain e.g. cross border rail services, transfer between travel modes, the interdependence of public realm, station developments and local businesses, industrial estates and public transport, suburban settlements and sustainable transport modes, real-time and continuous travel information, integrated ticketing etc.
In the same way that a common European market is far more than an addition of national economic markets, a truly integrated HST network is far more than transport.
A High-Speed Vision for the Future
HSTintegration and HSTconnect celebrated the achievements of their projects at a conference in London on the 22nd May. 
HSTconnect and HSTintegration projects, lead by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) are European funded projects that work to improve the appearance of station areas and improve the links between high speed train stations and town centres. 
