Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP
Secretary of State, Department for Transport

The Rt Hon Grant Shapps was appointed Secretary of State for Transport on 24 July 2019. He was Minister of State at Department for International Development from 11 May 2015 until 28 November 2015. He was elected the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield in 2005.

Sambit Banerjee
Managing Director of Rolling Stock
Siemens Mobility Limited

Sambit Banerjee was appointed Managing Director of Siemens Mobility Limited's Rolling Stock business in late 2019 after holding the position of Finance Director since 2013. A Chartered Accountant by training, Sambit started his career working for Siemens India Ltd. in various financial roles followed by several years in Corporate Headquarters in Munich. Prior to his current role at Siemens Mobility, Sambit held senior financial roles at several Siemens UK businesses including Siemens Logistics and Airport Solutions and Siemens IT Solution & Services.

Jonathan Bray
Director
Urban Transport Group

Jonathan has been the Director of the Urban Transport Group since 2008. He is also a visiting senior fellow at LSE Cities, a Commissioner on the Commission on Travel Demand and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation.

Jonathan's career has been about developing progressive policies on transport and advocating effectively for them. This includes changing national policy for the better by being one of the leaders of the network which ended the hegemony of the roads lobby on national transport policy in the nineties through to winning better bus powers for transport authorities in 2017. He has also made the Urban Transport Group the place where the thinking happens on the future of urban transport as well as saved members of the Group millions through finding more cost effective ways for them to work together.

Jonathan writes about new thinking on urban transport in a regular column in Passenger Transport magazine. He is also a Director of Good Journey CIC, a member of the Transport Planning Society and a member of the UITP's Organising Authorities Committee.

Neil Connor
Client Executive Transport Operators
Fujitsu UK

Neil currently heads up Fujitsu's Transport Operator business across the UK. Within this role Neil brings his depth and breadth of expertise working across both private sector customers in Rail and Bus alongside his work with the public sector and his relationship with the Department for Transport and other key stakeholder groups such as the Rail Delivery Group. A working technical and commercial knowledge of digitising transport infrastructure and operations as providers pursue more passenger-centric solutions.

Prior to joining Fujitsu, Neil was seconded to the Department of Transport in their procurement team to design a group procurement operating model, ultimately gaining executive endorsement. Previously to this Neil gained experience from management roles leading a range of innovative partnerships and business development activities within BT Global Services, Syntegra and Digital Equipment Company.

Caroline Donaldson
Managing Director
West Coast Partnership Development

Caroline is Managing Director of West Coast Partnership Development, the 'Shadow Operator' for High Speed 2: designing, developing and mobilising high speed service operations and associated conventional services. Its goal is to maximise the benefits of the significant investment in high speed infrastructure.

Caroline joined FirstGroup as Bid Director, Rail in 2010, having previously held various positions across the transport sector, including senior positions at Network Rail and London Underground. She is a Chartered Accountant and holds a degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.

Robert Drewery
Commercial Director
Optare

Robert has over 15 years of national and international sales and marketing experience gained within the bus and commercial vehicle industries at a senior level.

Robert's career in the commercial vehicle and bus industry started with Leyland Daf where he gained extensive experience in both sales and aftersales, followed by the role of business development director of the truck maintenance company, Pullman Fleet Services.

More recently Robert led the Wrightbus sales team to win a number of major UK and international contracts supplying Wrightbus products. Robert also oversaw the introduction and support of the New Routemaster.

Over the last 18 months at Optare, Robert has been focused on engaging with operators across the UK to the deliver an extensive demonstration programme for the new double deck product and extended range electric buses. He has also used his international sales experience to help expand Optare's presence in overseas markets, in particular Australia and South East Asia.

Cllr Martin Gannon
Leader of Gateshead Council and Chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee

Martin was elected as a member of Gateshead Council in 1984 and served in various roles including Deputy Leader for six years, before being elected as Leader of the Council in May 2016.
Prior to this, Martin worked for the GMB Trade Union for 23 years undertaking a number of roles including Regional Officer, Head of Research, Health and Safety, and Media and Communications.
As Leader of the Council, Martin is involved in several national and regional bodies. He is Chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee and is a board member of North East Combined Authority, North East LEP, LGA City Regions Board and North Music Trust.

Claire Haigh
Chief Executive
Greener Journeys / Executive Director, Transport Knowledge Hub

Claire Haigh is Chief Executive of Greener Journeys, a coalition of the UK's major public transport groups committed to encouraging people to make more sustainable travel choices. She also chairs the Delivery & Impacts Independent Review Panel for the Government's Joint Air Quality Unit (DfT/Defra); is the Executive Director of the Transport Knowledge Hub; is a Director and the Vice Chair of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership; and has been a Board Member of Transport for Greater Manchester. Previously she was Project Director for Journey Solutions, where she was responsible for the creation, implementation and roll-out of PLUSBUS the first national multi-operator bus-rail ticket.

David Hoggarth
Strategic Rail Director
Transport for the North

David is Strategic Rail Director at Transport for the North (TfN), England's first Sub-national Transport Body. David oversees TfN's strategic rail programme as well as local input to the management of the Northern and TransPennine franchises. David has worked on the development and implementation of rail devolution in the North of England, including the progression of a Long Term Rail Strategy for the North of England which forms a major part of Transport for the North's Strategic Transport Plan - demonstrating how investment in transport infrastructure can drive economic growth, improve people's lives, and provide greater opportunities for people across the North.

David was previously the Director of Rail North, which was merged with Transport for the North when TfN became a statutory body in 2018. Prior to this David was Director for Development at West Yorkshire Combined Authority and West Yorkshire's lead on rail strategy, services and projects. David has an M.Sc in Transport Planning from the University of Newcastle and worked for JMP Consultants and the City of York Council prior to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Henri Murison
Director
Northern Powerhouse Partnership

As its first permanent Director, he has established the Northern Powerhouse Partnership as the business led organisation which convenes the North together. From securing further investment to guarantee HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail would work together as an integrated high speed network, to challenging for a better deal for the most disadvantaged from the education system, his team are focused on how government, business and partners can drive the North's ambitions. Before joining the Partnership, he worked in senior research and public affairs roles for the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Yorkshire Building Society, as well as previously serving as Cabinet Member for Quality of Life at Newcastle City Council.

Tim Roberts
Key Accounts Manager
Cubic

Tim Roberts leads on Business Development for UK Rail in Cubic Transportation with particular emphasis on working with the Train Operating Companies and the Rail Delivery Group to realise the development and introduction of new technologies in the areas of ticketing and revenue protection. Prior to Cubic, Tim comes from an Aerospace background having worked in R&D in previous organisations and then moving into a Business Development and Account Management roles within QinetiQ for a number of years.

Cllr Liam Robinson
Transport Portfolio Holder
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Cllr Liam Robinson is a Liverpool City Labour Councillor, who has represented the Kensington and Fairfield Ward since 2008. He was elected Chair of Merseytravel in June 2012 and has subsequently been appointed Portfolio Holder for Transport for the Liverpool City Region by Mayor Steve Rotheram and the Combined Authority. Merseytravel is the delivery arm for transport of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

Cllr Robinson has key roles in strategic transport groups, including having been a founder Board Member of Transport for the North, Rail North and having chaired the City Regions Transport Special Interest Group.

Making public transport more affordable, particularly for young people, is a key focus for Cllr Robinson. He has championed the introduction of reduced price bus fares for young people up to their 19th birthday, which has led to a 168% growth in Young Persons Journeys. He has also lead the procurement of a brand new fleet of publicly owned trains for the Merseyrail network including pioneering disability access features.

David Sidebottom (Session Chair)
Passenger Director
Transport Focus

David has been with Transport Focus since January 2006 and previously spent over 11 years representing the needs and interests of energy consumers in the north west of England where he was Regional Director of energywatch, the gas and electricity consumer council.

Maggie Simpson
Director General
Rail Freight Group

Maggie Simpson is Executive Director at the Rail Freight Group, the representative body for rail freight in the UK.

Since joining in 2005 she has worked to promote growth in rail freight and to support member companies of the Group in their activities.

Tim Shoveller
Regional MD North West + Central
Network Rail

Tim Shoveller is Managing Director of Network Rail's North West and Central Region. He started this role in June 2019 after moving from Stagecoach, where he was MD of the rail division.

Previously, as MD of South West Trains, Tim led the development of the Alliance working with Network Rail. Earlier in his career, Tim was MD at East Midlands Trains from the start of the franchise in 2007.

He joined Stagecoach from Virgin Trains where, as Business Development Director and previously Operations Director, he played a key role in the success of Virgin West Coast. Earlier career highlights included roles as Operations Director at Midland Mainline, Wessex Trains and senior positions at Eurostar.

Tim has 25 years' experience in the rail industry, initially joining British Rail as a Guard at Guildford.

He is also a Fellow and Board member of the Institution of Railway Operators and is passionate about developing people and skills within the industry. He is Chairman of the Railway Benefit Fund charity, which supports current and former employees and their families.

David Stones
Network Planning Director
Highways England

David Stones is the Network Planning Director in Highways England responsible for the strategic planning and development of the network. He has worked for Highways England and its predecessor for over 20 years, developing strategy, policy and technical standards through innovative research programmes focusing on road safety, technical and safety risk assurance, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), traffic modelling, scheme appraisal, environmental improvement, air quality assessment and asset, operational and Digital Roads development.

David is a Chartered Engineer and a fellow of CIHT, ICE and CILT, with thirty years of experience in feasibility studies, design, project/programme management and implementation of complex transport initiatives, including six years overseas in the Far and Middle East. He has experience of the planning and Development Consent Order process and preparation and evaluation of transport and environmental impact assessments and scheme appraisals to facilitate development, regeneration and economic growth.

Mark Thurston
CEO
HS2

As the CEO of High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd, Mark has the privilege and ultimate responsibility for leading the company that has been charged with delivering a new high speed railway that will connect the major cities of the UK. The vision is for HS2 to be a catalyst for growth across Britain and become the backbone of Britain's rail network. It will better connect the country's major cities and economic hubs and help deliver a stronger, more balanced economy, better able to compete on the global stage. It will open up local and regional markets and will attract investment and improve job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people across the whole country. HS2 Ltd began operations in January 2009. The company currently employs around 1,600 people, with the majority of staff working at its headquarters in Birmingham.

Mark joined HS2 Ltd in March 2017; he has some 30 years' experience including leadership roles in engineering, project and programme management and business operations. Having worked for client, consulting and delivery organisations, Mark has a successful track record across a mix of major organisations and investment programmes, and worked on both the London 2012 Olympics and Crossrail. He was previously the European MD of engineering and projects company CH2M.

Mark started his career as a technician apprentice on the London Underground. He is a Visiting Professor at the Bartlett school of Construction and Project Management at UCL and an honorary fellow of both the Association for Project Management and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Graham Vidler
Chief Executive
CPT

Prior to joining CPT Graham worked in a wide variety of roles in financial services, most recently as Director of External Affairs for the workplace pensions trade body, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association. He has also worked as a researcher in both the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament, led the policy team at Which? and, as Director of Communications, was a member of the start-up team which created the UK's largest pension scheme, NEST.

Barry White
Chief Executive
Transport for the North

Barry leads the development and delivery of Transport for the North's Strategic Transport Plan and provides strategic leadership to deliver the organisation's vision of a thriving North of England where modern transport connections drive economic growth and support an excellent quality of life. He is accountable for the overall performance of the organisation, its integrity and activities.