During November, the Railway and Transport Strategy Centre (RTSC) led the Community of Metros Annual Meeting.

The meeting was directed by Richard Anderson and Alexander Barron and hosted by the Beijing Subway. It was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Beijing and the Permanent Secretary of the Chinese Ministry of Transport and was attended by the Presidents and Directors of 17 other metropolitan railways worldwide.

The attendees heard and discussed seven research topics undertaken by the RTSC during 2013, including An Econometric Analysis of Metro Cost Efficiency, A Comparative Analysis of the Performance of Metros Worldwide, Station Management Using Mobile Technology and The Optimisation of Metro Demand and Fare Revenue. The meeting marked the 20th anniversary of this on-going research programme at Imperial which is supported by £465,000 of annual funding.