Railway Division: How we are governed

Strategy and Sustainability Director, Brodie Engineering

Iain Rae is proud to be Strategy and Sustainability Director at Brodie Engineering, based in Kilmarnock. In his role he is developing their business strategy, as well as leading their new consulting business. He is currently Project Manager of the Scottish Hydrogen train project, which has been a highlight of his career to date. In this project, science meets engineering and learning is at the centre of the work being undertaken. A previous career highlight was the role of Engineering Lead for the award-winning Class 365 Fleet Introduction for ScotRail.

Iain started his railway career in 1989 as a BR Sponsored Student and completed a BEng in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. Iain benefited from the BR Engineering Management Trainee Scheme which gave him a broad background in Railway Engineering. It also gave him the opportunity to gain experience in a wide range of railway systems and build a network of great colleagues across the U.K. On graduating, he worked for ScotRail within the technical office at Haymarket depot. He then moved to Springburn depot in the role of Engineering Manager, and later became the General Manager of the business. After Springburn, he joined Interfleet Technology,as a Principal Consultant in their new Scottish team, and later became the Operational Development Director for the Rail Consulting business in the North. During this time, he was especially proud of the young engineers and graduates that he encouraged in their career paths both within Interfleet and the wider rail engineering network within Scotland.

On the IMechE front, Iain has been an active member of the Scottish Centre for the last seven years, and was Chair for four of these years. During his period as Chair, and with the help and support of a fantastic committee, the centre has developed a more diverse and inclusive committee and range of participants in our events, although there is lots more still to do. One of the highlights of Iain’s time as Scottish Chair was the UK Chair’s visit to Scotland, where the Scottish Centre hosted an event for the younger engineers to meet each other, followed by “Lunch with the Chair.” This event was highly successful in improving our engagement with our future Rail Professionals, something which Iain is passionate about developing further.

Business Development Director, Cordel.ai

Rebeka is a Chartered Engineer and IMechE Fellow, elected to the Railway Division Board since 2015 and currently Finance Committee Chair. She organised the Railway Gauging and Clearance seminar in 2023, building on her ongoing work for Cordel, capturing GigaBytes of Point Cloud data from passenger trains and creating useful asset information for infrastructure engineers.

Rebeka lead-authored the 2017 IMechE report “Increasing Capacity: Putting Britain’s railways back on track”. She has successfully mentored many professional engineers, and keeps challenging her own learning, becoming additionally a Fellow of the Permanent Way Institution in 2023.

Rebeka’s railway career began in 1986 with British Rail, making and mending trains from Derby to Inverness. After graduating from Oxford University, Rebeka’s fluent French enabled a pioneering work exchange with SNCF in Paris, followed by UK TOC engineering management roles, then helping initiate ROSCOs. Moving into consultancy, Rebeka created Interfleet Technology’s Asset Management service, delivering international assignments and growing her team to 50.

This century, during seven years as Engineering Director ATOC, she got excited about policy and R&D, which she continues to deliver on for the railway and at Cordel.

Strategic Growth, Transportation Division, AtkinsRéalis

Farzana Hampshire is part of the Strategic Growth Team for the Transportation Division of AtkinsRéalis, currently leading the programme for Mass Transit. Prior to this she was the Operations Manager for the Engineering Practice for nearly 3 years. She formerly led the company’s Dynamics, Gauging & Testing Team within the rolling stock area and is an expert in railway vehicle dynamics and the wheel-rail interface. She was instrumental in bringing the Vampire (railway vehicle dynamics) software product to AtkinsRéalis where it is now licensed, supported and developed. Farzana is a Fellow of the IMechE and has a long association with the Institution, attending many seminars and meetings over the years and providing vehicle dynamics training to delegates at Birdcage Walk.

Farzana started her career as a Sponsored Student working for BR Research (and its later incarnations) whilst completing an MEng in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London; later she went on to complete an MSc in Rail Systems Engineering at Sheffield University under the aegis of Felix Schmid. She moved to Interfleet Technology (later SNC-Lavalin and now AtkinsRéalis) in 2007 and worked within the team that she later managed, alongside some notable authorities in her chosen field. Farzana is grateful to the company for championing her career development, particularly when they supported a job share as Team Leader for the first few years of the role, before eventually taking the role on her own. She is an advocate for different approaches to supporting both men and women who want to be able to progress their careers at a time when they might have conflicting demands from their home life, ensuring that they are able to continue career growth through schemes like job sharing and flexible working.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion are very close to Farzana’s heart, and she is involved in a number of different initiatives including gender balance and efforts to level the field for those with other protected characteristics such as race and disability. She is part of the Governors for Schools initiative and is now a governor on a board for two primary schools in Derby and has developed a programme of STEM activities as part of this role. Farzana is keen to see more diversity in engineering as a whole and more specifically in the IMechE.

As well as being a board member of the IMechE’s Railway Division, Farzana also sits on the IMechE’s Technical Strategy Board and the Education & Skills Strategy Board.

Director of Safety & Engineering Services, Porterbrook

Jason is a Chartered Engineer and experienced rail professional with senior leadership and management credentials gained over a 30-year career in the UK and Australian rail industries. Jason is currently the Director of Safety & Engineering Services at Porterbrook, a major UK rolling stock leasing and asset management company, where he leads safety, fleet strategy and project delivery functions. Prior to joining Porterbrook Jason worked for SNC-Lavalin where he was the UK Director of Rolling Stock. Previous career roles include Professional Head of Engineering for National Express Wessex Trains, State Manager for SNC-Lavalin’s rail consultancy operation in Victoria, Australia, Technical Manager delivering a fleet of electric passenger trains for RailCorp in Sydney, Australia, and a period in management consultancy at Booz & Company. Jason has a track record of leading engineering teams and operations in commercial rail environments to deliver business objectives, with particular experience in rolling stock acquisition and upgrade, fleet management, maintenance and project delivery.

Jason has been an active member of the IMechE for over 25 years. Jason began his IMechE involvement as the YM representative on the RD South East Centre in the late 1990’s and chaired the RD Young Members committee in 1999. Jason was also a member of the IMechE New South Wales Panel during his time in Sydney, Australia. Jason joined the RD Midlands Centre committee in 2017 and was Committee Chair between 2019 and 2021. Jason has been an ordinary member of the Railway Division Board since 2021.

Technical Director, Angel Trains

Matthew Prosser is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with 25 years of experience in rolling stock engineering and leadership. Matthew read Mechanical Engineering at University of Wales, Swansea and after a short spell in the steel industry Matthew started his railway career as an engineering management trainee for European Passenger Services (the predecessor to Eurostar). Matthew has held positions at WS Atkins Rail, Arriva Trains Wales and Chiltern Railways, where he was Engineering and Safety Director. He joined Angel Trains as Technical Director in 2019 after previously being an employee between 2002 to 2005. He is currently the Chair of the IMechE Railway Division South Western Centre. Matthew has been a Chartered Engineer since 2000.

Chief Executive Officer, Digital Transit Ltd (DTL)

Howard is the Chief Executive Officer of Digital Transit Ltd (DTL), a leader in advancing condition monitoring, safety, reliability, and artificial intelligence within the rail industry. With over 30 years of international railway experience, Howard is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE) and a member of the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers..

Howard holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Manchester and serves as the Vice Chair of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Railway Division Board. He is also an active member of the IMechE Railway Division North Western Centre, contributing to the engineering community.

He serves on the BSI GEL/9/-/6 "Railway Electrotechnical Applications – Standards relating to Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning" committee and the IEC PT 63452 Railway applications – Cybersecurity committee.

Before founding Digital Transit Ltd, Howard held senior roles, including Principal Consultant at Atkins Group and Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he specialised in design and robotics. At DTL, he leads innovation in condition monitoring, safety-critical systems, and intelligent engineering solutions.

Howard is a published researcher, with works focusing on OT cybersecurity standards, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Big Data Analytics, showcasing his expertise in bridging engineering, technology, and research.

Project Director, CAF

Graham became a Fellow of the IMechE 21 years ago and has been an active volunteer for many years including; RD Scottish Centre committee member, Professional Review Interview chairman, Vice Chair of the Professional Review Committee responsible for CEng registrations and, more recently, became the IMechE nominee on the Engineering Council - Quality Assurance Committee.

Graham has had a very varied engineering and project management career spending time in the Power, Oil & Gas and Mining sectors, as VP of a Specialist Coatings business as well as in Rolling Stock manufacture and maintenance. Graham has worked on projects across the globe in such diverse locations as Argentina, Algeria and Australia and lived in Malaysia for 2 years building a power station. In his 15 years in Rail, Graham was the Project Director for the early phase of the Class 170 ‘Turbostar’ product, has run vehicle and component MRO businesses in the UK and Europe and more recently oversaw the construction, staff recruitment, quality approvals and first Class 195 vehicle builds of CAF’s Newport factory. Graham has spent the last 2 years overseeing the introduction of CAF Mk5 coaches for both Caledonian Sleeper and Transpennine Express.

Head of Engineering, Great Western Railway.

Andrew joined the rail industry straight from school and was sponsored as an undergraduate by the British Railways Board. He gained a BEng degree having studied Mechanical Engineering at Brunel University.

Having spent time in the heavy engineering workshops in Doncaster and York as part of the sponsored student scheme, he had an initial placement in the Technical Office at Wembley Intercity Depot maintaining the West Coast passenger rolling stock.

After becoming chartered and a member of the IMechE, Andrew then moved to South Wales and joined the Technical Office at Cardiff Canton locomotive depot and was responsible for performance data, modifications and carried out fault finding. During this time, he also deputised for the Production Managers leading the shift maintenance teams.

His association with South Wales continued when he moved west to become the Area Traction & Rolling Stock Engineer at Margam responsible for the locomotive depot, wagon repair shops and rolling stock technicians carrying out pre departure freight train examinations. Here he gained the first combined BS Quality award for all three activities on BR. He started a commercial interest whilst at Margam having responsibility for the maintenance of British Steel wagons under contract. It was also this role which opened up his interest in the industrial railway history of South Wales and the industrial production and logistics involved in the railfreight markets.

His Depot Management experience was further expanded through a move to the West Midlands running Bescot locomotive depot and Chester Wagon shops for a couple of years.

With the privatisation of British Rail, Andrew moved back to Cardiff Canton as the Depot Manager with the depot’s activities expanding to now carry out wagon and rolling stock overhauls including the travelling Post Office vehicles.

To further his commercial skills, Andrew then took a sideways move into the freight commercial team as an Account Manager for the sales of infrastructure trains to service Railtrack’s track maintenance and renewals programmes.

An opportunity then arose for a Project Manager with experience of Depot Management, rolling stock technical knowledge and commercial skills to join Great Western Trains. Andrew was successful and initially managed an £18M upgrade to the High Speed Train fleet. He has continued in various engineering roles including Fleet Engineering Manager, Fleet Manager with responsibility for four major depots and around 600 staff to his current role as Head of Engineering for the Great Western Railway.

His responsibilities have broadened over time and he now manages fleet technical which covers one of the most diverse range of TOC T&RS in the UK including HST, IET, DMU, EMU, locomotives and carriages. He also manages materials technical, performance data, technical standards and occupational safety. His team are also responsible for operation of the ISO certified engineering integrated management system covering quality, safety, environmental and energy management.

Andrew’s involvement with IMechE activities began in the early 1990s as a committee member of the Railway Division South Western Centre, he went on to Chair the Centre for three years and is currently the Treasurer.

Following his Centre Chairmanship, Andrew continued as an Ordinary Board Member of the Railway Division at HQ which he continues to do. He currently has special responsibility for The Railway Engineers Forum.

Chief Operating Officer, Porterbrook

Ben has recently been appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer at Porterbrook and joins from Trenitalia c2c Limited where he was Managing Director. Ben has acquired over twenty years of engineering, operational and general management experience in the railway industry having previously been Engineering Director at c2c and Northern, and Director of Midland Metro. Ben began his railway career as a graduate engineer at Angel Trains and became a Chartered Engineer in 2008. He is now an MPDS mentor and is active across several RDG schemes.

Ben has a degree in Automotive Engineering from Loughborough University, a Masters in Railway Systems Engineering from the University of Birmingham and a MBA from Imperial College London.

Paul works with London Underground’s operational readiness team, preparing the network for the entry to service of the new train fleet for the Piccadilly line. This includes developing the training programme for 650 Train Operators, and commissioning Platform Train Interface CCTV systems at 53 stations. His responsibilities also include the £600m Bank Station Capacity Upgrade, introducing a new platform for the Northern line, travelators, and a new station entrance with step-free access to the platforms.

Paul entered the railway industry via an apprenticeship with Transport for London, during which he undertook placements on projects including Crossrail and the refurbishment of the Jubilee, Central and Bakerloo line train fleets. He then spent two years as a project planner for the £5.4bn Four Lines Modernisation resignalling programme.

Paul is chair of the Railway Division’s Events Committee, leading the team of volunteers who deliver the programme of seminars, webinars and lectures which play a key part in fulfilling the Institution’s purpose as a learned society. Since taking on the role of chair in 2021, Paul has helped shape the post-lockdown return of in-person events, with a variety of face-to-face, online and hybrid events planned through 2022. Paul has introduced Railway Division’s new series of lunchtime webinars, which focus on the latest developments in railway technology.

Paul has been a member of the Railway Division Young Members committee since 2019 and the committee’s vice chair since 2020, with responsibilities including running the annual “Rail Trail” scavenger hunt and online quizzes during lockdown.

 

Head of Business Development, Siemens

Graeme joined the British Railways Board Degree Sponsorship Scheme in 1981 and upon graduation from the University of Bath with an Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering, joined British Rail Engineering (BREL), based initially in Derby Carriage Works.

The next four years were spent working in various product support roles with BREL on several fleets, including Class 90/91, Class 150, Class 158 and Class 442, finishing as Class 90 Commissioning Engineer, before moving into a role within the Advanced Engineering function

After the purchase of BREL by ABB, he worked on the engineering support of Sales on Metro opportunities in Europe, Asia and South America, before leaving to join GEC Alsthom - Metro Cammell in 1995.  In this role, he was responsible for the sales of Juniper and Coradia Trains in the UK and was also very involved with the initial phase of the West Coast Pendolino programme.

Graeme left Alstom to join Adtranz as Platform Director for the Metros Business, which was eventually taken over by Bombardier, where he held the position of Metro Director of Marketing and Product Planning

Following a brief spell with Fastline, herejoined Alstom, based in London and working on UK projects in a sales role, before joining Siemens in 2011.  

Graeme is currently Siemens’ Head of Business Development for the Rolling Stock Business in the UK and as such has had a significant involvement in recent Desiro contracts and in the London Underground Deep Tube Programme.

I’m currently working on the next generation of Siemens’ trains for the UK

I have been a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the IMechE since 1991 and achieved my Fellowship of the Institution in 2003.

Married, I live 30m from the sea in Portsmouth with my wife and two cats.

My hobbies include Large Scale Railway Modelling, Cooking, Military History and Travel.

 

 

Managing Director Keolis Amey Docklands

Richard is the Managing Director of Keolis Amey Docklands, responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Docklands Light Railway in London.

Richard was previously the Performance and Development Director of Keolis UK and was a member of the company’s executive team and Board. He was also on the board of directors for Keolis Amey Operations in Wales.

Prior to joining Keolis UK, Richard worked in the United States for Keolis Commuter Services, the heavy rail operation in Boston, where he was Vice President for Strategy and Performance. Richard worked for over a decade in engineering and operations consultancy before this, in the transportation, aerospace and defence sectors, delivering programmes for Bombardier, Network Rail, Rolls Royce and Safran Group.

Richard was an Army Officer with the Royal Engineers and is a graduate of Oxford University with a first class master’s degree in engineering.

Principal Rolling Stock Engineer, Mott MacDonald

Jenny Irish is a Principal Rolling Stock Engineer within the Mott MacDonald Rolling Stock team. She currently leads a team of engineers providing engineering consultancy services related to structural analysis, vehicle dynamics and gauging. Her projects include compatibility assessments, standard development, life extensions of fleets of aging trains, modifications to improve performance, assessments of damage, vehicle repair and inspection regimes. She is an expert in her field and represents the UK at European Standards drafting committees as well as driving changes in UK standards. 

Jenny started her railway career in 1996 as a Sponsored Student working for Adtranz Bogie Division (now known as Alstom) whilst completing an MEng in Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University. Rail was not a field that she had considered for a career whilst at school, but what soon became clear was that the railway has a lot to offer with great people and projects.

On graduating she moved to Interfleet Technology (now SNC-Lavalin/Atkins) where she completed their graduate development programme. She then moved into a consultancy role specialising in rail vehicle dynamics, gauging and testing. Progressing from this role to become Section Head Gauging and then Team Lead Dynamics Gauging and Testing in a job share partnership. In this role she worked collaboratively to build and develop the team of expert consultants, focusing on delivery of projects while enabling people to develop professionally using their strengths. One of her biggest achievements was the development of the business case which enabled the purchase of the Vampire (railway vehicle dynamics) software product by SNC-Lavalin where it is now licensed, supported and developed. In 2021 she was promoted to the role of Practice Manager for Engineering Services, which included responsibility for a further three teams delivering rolling stock consultancy services to the UK and overseas rail industry.

Through her role as a people leader and with her passion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion she is an advocate for different approaches to supporting both men and women who want to be able to progress their careers while balancing conflicting demands from their home life through schemes like job sharing and flexible working.

Jenny is a Fellow of the IMechE and is a supporter and active member of the of the Institution, she is a Professional Review Interviewer, MPDS mentor for developing engineers, provides support and opportunities for developing engineers in her teams and encourages more experienced engineers to gain chartership status. Jenny hopes to extend her involvement with the IMechE by joining the board.

Consultant, SNC-Lavalin Atkins

Aimee is an Associate member of the IMechE, actively working towards Chartership. Aimee graduated with an MEng in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, throughout which she was sponsored by Network Rail through the IET Power Academy. This was where Aimee realised her interest in the rail industry.

Aimee started on the graduate scheme at SNC-Lavalin Atkins in 2018, joining the Rail Consulting Practice. Aimee initially focused on rolling stock projects which included the introduction of the Caledonian Sleeper Mk5 coaches. On this project Aimee played a significant role in the planning and execution of the trial operations and entry into service activities. Since completing the graduate scheme, Aimee has joined the Train Control and Signalling Team with a focus on Communications Based Train Control. Aimee has been involved in a variety of projects both within the UK and internationally and most recently she has worked on the Ahmedabad Metro where she assisted in the validation of the rolling stock with respect to driverless train operation, and Heathrow Terminal 5’s Automated People Mover where she is part of the technical advisor team assisting with the capacity enhancements for the fully-automated system, which includes the introduction of 20 new vehicles.

Aimee also project managed the SNC-Lavalin Atkins entry into the 2019 IMechE Railway Challenge. She then delivered a lecture to the Scottish RD on her experiences of competing in the Railway Challenge. Aimee also took part in the 2020 IMechE RD Future of Rail Presentation Competition, winning the Scottish heat and coming runner-up at the national final. More recently, Aimee has returned to her university to mentor mechanical engineering students in their penultimate year and encourage them to explore the rail industry as a future career choice.

Aimee has been a committee member of the Scottish RD for the last year, where she provides a perspective from the young members and challenges the centre committee to meet the needs of all its members, with a particular focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. One example of this is Aimee has recently organised a lunch with the RD Chair and young engineers with the aim of encouraging greater participation in the institution. Aimee hopes to continue ensuring that the activities of the institution cater for those just starting their careers, through to those that have long finished their careers. She hopes that she can aide in guaranteeing the members get as much out of the institution as she does, both through expanding their understanding on relevant topics but also meeting, and interacting, with like-minded people.

Track Engineer, Network Rail

Chipo is an Associate member of the IMechE, who has over a decade of diverse work experience in various fields with a bachelor’s sandwich degree in Mechanical Engineering from Huddersfield University which established her interest in engineering. Chipo is currently working towards her Incorporated status.

Chipo currently works as a Track Engineer at Network Rail, where she is responsible for analysing safety critical processes in the maintenance depot. She also contributes to the development of problem statements for track renewals for the Route Asset Management team and provides technical support in relation to the management of statutory approval of designs in the team she currently works in. Chipo is an excellent communicator with strong interpersonal skills and uses these in her role as a mentor to graduates new to the Network Rail Graduate Scheme where she assists them with the transition into the rail industry. Chipo has also obtained certification for time analysis study and Personal Track Safety, which demonstrates her commitment to continued learning and development.

Chipo has been a committee member of the IMechE Scottish Railway Division for the last two years, where she acts as the social media liaison and all-round spokesperson for the Young Members within Scotland. Chipo organised Young Members to attend a lunch with the RD Chair this year which has led to a higher level of engagement from the Young Members within the Centre. This has also been demonstrated by the highest number of entrants the Centre has ever had for the Future of Rail Competition, which was successfully organised and ran by Chipo.

Overall, Chipo's wide range of experience, excellent communication skills, and dedication to safety and detail makes her a strong candidate to become a board member role of the IMechE Railway Division. Chipo would use her skills with social media to highlight the work the Division undertakes and encourage more engagement from the members of the Division, including Young Members, as previously demonstrated with great success for the Scottish Centre. She would also support Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives as Chipo is passionate in helping others feel included and reach their maximum potential.

Head of Design - South East, Network Rail

James graduated from Sheffield University in 1992 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and then joined British Rail as a Graduate Engineering Management Trainee. For the next eight years he spent most of his time at train maintenance depots in largely engineering management roles; ending this period of his career as Depot Manager at Leeds Neville Hill Train Care Depot.

In September 2000 James moved from Leeds to Peterborough to start his career in the infrastructure side of the industry.  He spent the next 11 years in various roles with Railtrack, then Network Rail, growing his knowledge of infrastructure asset management - whilst never moving too far away from his Traction and Rolling Stock roots - he worked with Infrastructure and Rail Vehicle engineers and operations teams and this gave him the ‘system’ approach to engineering that he has still has today.

In 2011 James established the Network Certification Body (NCB), a Network Rail subsidiary business.  As NCB’s Managing Director he led the business in providing independent engineering certification services to both infrastructure and rail vehicle projects, effectively bringing together the two parts of his engineering career in the rail industry.

Since 2018 James has been the Head of Design in the Southern Region of Network Rail, leading the large team of multi-discipline design engineers that support rail infrastructure capital delivery projects; providing design services from early stage development to detailed design and commissioning / testing.

The IMechE Rail Division has been a big influence throughout James' career; from attending his first Young Members Rail Conference to sitting down for his Fellowship review panel.  He did his first presentation at a Rail Division conference at the Young Members Conference in 2006 and, in 2009, he became the Chairman of the Rail Division Seminars and Conferences organising committee. Since 2012 he has continued to support the Rail Division Board, most recently as the Finance Committee Chair.

James is an IMechE Mentor and has enjoyed helping several engineers become Incorporated or Chartered over the last 20 years.  Throughout his career, it’s always been about the people for James; the principles of engineering are vital but helping the people strengthen and extend the breadth of their engineering boundaries is what makes things happen.

Chair 2020 - 2021
Dipl.El.Ing. ETH, PhD, FIMechE, FIRSE, FPWI

Born in Zürich, Switzerland, Felix Schmid graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering.

Following a brief career in software analysis in his home country, he moved to Manchester, England, to work for GEC Traction as a loco­motive con­trol systems engineer.

In 1982 he became a research engineer at UMIST and later a re­search assis­tant at the University of Salford. He then joined Brunel University as a lecturer in com­puter integ­rated manufacturing. In 1993, he took up a post as a railway inspector with the Swiss Federal Office of Transport but realised quickly that he was not suited to a civil service role. After a year, he re­turned to Britain and a senior lectureship at the University of Sheffield, where he was employed to develop the MSc programme in Railway Systems Engineering. In 2005, Felix and the programme transferred to the University of Birmingham and the Birmingham Centre for Railway Re­search and Education. Between 2005 and 2019, he managed three railway related masters pro­grammes and he still supervises research in the areas of railway control, railway operations and systems engineering.

Felix became a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 2003. He is on the Board and the Executive of the Railway Division and has led four Railway Technical Tours between 2016 and 2019. He is currently involved in the planning of the Railway Technical Tour 2020. Felix Schmid has pro­vided contributions to many IMechE railway conferences and seminars, including ten Young Members’ seminars. He is also a fellow of the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers and of the Permanent Way Institution.

Business Development Director, Cordel.ai

Rebeka is a Chartered Engineer and IMechE Fellow, elected to the Railway Division Board since 2015 and currently Finance Committee Chair. She organised the Railway Gauging and Clearance seminar in 2023, building on her ongoing work for Cordel, capturing GigaBytes of Point Cloud data from passenger trains and creating useful asset information for infrastructure engineers.

Rebeka lead-authored the 2017 IMechE report “Increasing Capacity: Putting Britain’s railways back on track”. She has successfully mentored many professional engineers, and keeps challenging her own learning, becoming additionally a Fellow of the Permanent Way Institution in 2023. Rebeka’s railway career began in 1986 with British Rail, making and mending trains from Derby to Inverness. After graduating from Oxford University, Rebeka’s fluent French enabled a pioneering work exchange with SNCF in Paris, followed by UK TOC engineering management roles, then helping initiate ROSCOs. Moving into consultancy, Rebeka created Interfleet Technology’s Asset Management service, delivering international assignments and growing her team to 50.

This century, during seven years as Engineering Director ATOC, she got excited about policy and R&D, which she continues to deliver on for the railway and at Cordel.

Head of Design - South East, Network Rail

James graduated from Sheffield University in 1992 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and then joined British Rail as a Graduate Engineering Management Trainee. For the next eight years he spent most of his time at train maintenance depots in largely engineering management roles; ending this period of his career as Depot Manager at Leeds Neville Hill Train Care Depot.

In September 2000 James moved from Leeds to Peterborough to start his career in the infrastructure side of the industry.  He spent the next 11 years in various roles with Railtrack, then Network Rail, growing his knowledge of infrastructure asset management - whilst never moving too far away from his Traction and Rolling Stock roots - he worked with Infrastructure and Rail Vehicle engineers and operations teams and this gave him the ‘system’ approach to engineering that he has still has today.

In 2011 James established the Network Certification Body (NCB), a Network Rail subsidiary business.  As NCB’s Managing Director he led the business in providing independent engineering certification services to both infrastructure and rail vehicle projects, effectively bringing together the two parts of his engineering career in the rail industry.

Since 2018 James has been the Head of Design in the Southern Region of Network Rail, leading the large team of multi-discipline design engineers that support rail infrastructure capital delivery projects; providing design services from early stage development to detailed design and commissioning / testing.

The IMechE Rail Division has been a big influence throughout James' career; from attending his first Young Members Rail Conference to sitting down for his Fellowship review panel.  He did his first presentation at a Rail Division conference at the Young Members Conference in 2006 and, in 2009, he became the Chairman of the Rail Division Seminars and Conferences organising committee. Since 2012 he has continued to support the Rail Division Board, most recently as the Finance Committee Chair.

James is an IMechE Mentor and has enjoyed helping several engineers become Incorporated or Chartered over the last 20 years.  Throughout his career, it’s always been about the people for James; the principles of engineering are vital but helping the people strengthen and extend the breadth of their engineering boundaries is what makes things happen.

Chair 2020 - 2021
Dipl.El.Ing. ETH, PhD, FIMechE, FIRSE, FPWI

Born in Zürich, Switzerland, Felix Schmid graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with a degree in electrical and electronic engineering.

Following a brief career in software analysis in his home country, he moved to Manchester, England, to work for GEC Traction as a loco­motive con­trol systems engineer.

In 1982 he became a research engineer at UMIST and later a re­search assis­tant at the University of Salford. He then joined Brunel University as a lecturer in com­puter integ­rated manufacturing. In 1993, he took up a post as a railway inspector with the Swiss Federal Office of Transport but realised quickly that he was not suited to a civil service role. After a year, he re­turned to Britain and a senior lectureship at the University of Sheffield, where he was employed to develop the MSc programme in Railway Systems Engineering. In 2005, Felix and the programme transferred to the University of Birmingham and the Birmingham Centre for Railway Re­search and Education. Between 2005 and 2019, he managed three railway related masters pro­grammes and he still supervises research in the areas of railway control, railway operations and systems engineering.

Felix became a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 2003. He is on the Board and the Executive of the Railway Division and has led four Railway Technical Tours between 2016 and 2019. He is currently involved in the planning of the Railway Technical Tour 2020. Felix Schmid has pro­vided contributions to many IMechE railway conferences and seminars, including ten Young Members’ seminars. He is also a fellow of the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers and of the Permanent Way Institution.

Head of Rolling Stock Engineering , London Underground.

Graham joined the railway industry straight from school as a rolling stock apprentice with London Underground. He finished his 4-year apprenticeship in 1975 winning London Underground’s Agnew Trophy - Apprentice of the Year Award.

He spent the next five years in LU’s Acton Works carrying out maintenance, modifications, diagnosis and repairs to electronic equipment used on LU rolling stock before moving to the rolling stock design division as an Auxiliary Equipment Engineer furthering his interest in rolling stock electronic systems.

During this time he became the specialist engineer responsible for all issues related to on-train electrical components, communications systems, train monitoring systems and existing ATO systems.

He then expanded his engineering experience when he became Head of the Electronic Development Section working at the forefront of rolling stock technology in the development of new electronic systems and specialist maintenance tools and test equipment.  He was also responsible for writing and developing new standards for electronic equipment and was an active member of various RIA Technical Specification committees (RIA 12, RIA 13, RIA 18, RIA 21 and RIA23/24).

Following an internal re-organisation in 1989 he become Client Engineer (Standards) responsible for developing a suite of performance based rolling stock standards covering all aspects of rolling stock design.  During this period he was also tasked with providing assurance directly to the Chief Rolling Stock Engineer for the introduction of the new Central Line 1992 Tube Stock trains – and thereby began his career as a New Stock Engineer.  This role broadened his knowledge of rolling stock design to cover a wider range of topics whilst working very closely within the delivery team but remaining independent enough to act as the Chief Engineer’s representative. 

This role continued into the mid-1990s with the introduction of the new fleet of 1996TS trains built for the Jubilee Line Extension and Graham was responsible for the development of the risk based staged assurance process used to introduce that fleet.  Around this time all London Underground engineering departments were amalgamated into delivery groups in one location and he became a team coordinator in the Trains Delivery Group responsible for a team of 33 specialist engineers located all over London. Later he inherited a small team of engineers specialising in noise and vibration management and in automated visual inspection – a system developed by London Underground to dynamically inspect track condition using high speed video at full line speed. By this time his New Stock Engineer role had expanded to include the new 1995TS trains being leased for the Northern Line under a PFI deal.

In 1998 with the Northern Line 1995TS delivery just beginning, with five trains delivered and operating in trial operations, he took over the role of the project engineer.  The trains were in their early delivery phase and it fell to Graham to develop and implement a reliability growth plan working closely with the train builder/maintainer Alstom and their subsystem suppliers to drive up the reliability of the fleet as quickly as possible.

With the delivery of the 1995TS almost complete and the reliability of the fleet approaching acceptable levels came the privatisation of the London Underground – The PPP Contract.  As Graham was still with the Northern Line Project he became the Chief Rolling Stock Engineer for InfraCo JNP.  However this was very short lived as he very quickly moved into the London Underground Chief Engineers Department to become the Control Systems Engineer responsible in part for the introduction of ATO on the Central Line 1992TS and as lead systems engineer for all rolling stock depots.

In 2004 Graham became the Chief Rolling Stock Engineer (now Head of Rolling Stock Engineering) with a small team of engineers responsible for assuring the safety of all trains on the London Underground as well as briefing the Board on all matters related to rolling stock, approval of new and modified trains, setting of standards for rolling stock, audit of compliance to statutory regulations and standards and for research and development associated with rolling stock. As part of this role he is the London Underground representative on the UITP Metros Division Rolling Stock Subcommittee involved in sharing of information, knowledge and experience between metros all over the world.

In 2006 Graham became a Chartered Engineer (CEng) through the Mature Candidate Scheme and a Fellow member of the IET.  He continued his professional development by also becoming a Fellow member of the IMechE in 2009 and a member of the Railway Division Board.

He is currently a member of the IMechE Seminars and Conferences Committee, IMechE Skills Task Force, IMechE Steering group (Training) and the HQ Lectures Committee.  Graham is also a member of the IET Railway TPN /Exec Committee and various NSAR steering groups providing useful links between the IMechE and these other railway organisations.

Chair 2018 - 2019 Managing Director, South Western Railway

Andy Mellors joined British Rail as an engineering management trainee in 1988, graduating in mechanical engineering from Imperial College in 1992.  

After undertaking various roles in rolling stock maintenance in North West London he moved to Merseyrail Electrics in 1995 and undertook a number of engineering roles prior to becoming Production Director in 1998.  After moving to FirstGroup in 2002, Andy was Engineering Director at First North Western and then First Scotrail prior to moving to First Great Western (now Great Western Railway) in 2007.  Andy was also Deputy Managing Director at GWR and, during his time there, oversaw significant fleet transformation, culminating in the introduction of new electric multiple units in the Thames Valley as well as finalising preparations for the introduction of the new Hitachi Intercity Express Trains.  He was appointed Managing Director for the new South Western Railway franchise, a FirstGroup and MTR joint venture, which commenced operations in August 2017.

Andy was past Chair of the Railway Engineering Graduate Scheme, operated by Rail Delivery Group (formerly the Association of Train Operating Companies) which has provided an accredited training programme for developing engineers in the industry.  He has been  the Chair of the South Western Centre of the Railway Division since 2015.

Chair 2017 - 2018  Managing Director, Grand Central
Richard joined the railway industry as an Engineering Management Trainee in 1982, working in various parts of the network, mainly in the London area. He spent 18 months acting as Personal Assistant to the Chairman of the British Railways Board at the time of Railtrack’s vesting. Richard joined GNER in 1998, as Production Director, having previously been Production Director on LTS Rail.

Richard then performed the role of Development Director including leading on Franchise Bids and delivering GNER’s major Franchise investment commitment projects, including rolling stock/station remodelling schemes.

In December 2007, Richard became the Production Director of National Express East Coast, leading the transformation of operational performance for the business and the continued development of its timetable and fleet.

Immediately prior to joining DB Regio UK in February 2010, Richard was the National Express Project Director for the Intercity Express Programme with responsibility for ensuring that these DfT procured trains entered service successfully without impact on the East Coast Franchise.

Richard was Chairman of ATOC’s Engineering Council a cross industry body looking at all aspects of railway rolling stock activity.

Since 1st April 2010, Richard has been Managing Director of DB Regio Tyne and Wear who operate Metro trains and stations on behalf of Nexus under a Concession Agreement. In this role Richard has been responsible for the launch of the new Concession and the ongoing deliver of all services to passengers on the Metro network.

In February 2012, Richard took up the role of Managing Director of Arriva’s Grand Central open access operator.

Richard was recently seconded to the role of Arriva’s Mobilisation Director preparing for the commencement of the new Northern Franchise but has now returned to Grand Central following the successful completion of that project.

Richard is married with two children.

Chair 2016 - 2017
Chief Engineer, Atkins
Richard joined the rail industry straight from school and was sponsored by British Rail for the completion of his Mechanical Engineering degree at Birmingham University.  He spent a couple of years in Scotland working on the operation and maintenance of their fleet of trains and then moved down to Derby to follow his interest in the technical aspects of trains.   This resulted in him being for a number of years the specialist engineer responsible for all issues associated with disc brakes on railway vehicles.  

He expanded his project engineering expertise by moving to Network South East business sector and was fully responsible for such projects as the environmental testing of class 465 EMUs at Vienna and the installation of Automatic Train Protection and other safety systems to the class 165 DMU fleet. 

His project management expertise developed through him managing all the engineering issues associated with procuring and introducing the first passenger EMU after rail privatisation, the class 365/5 dual voltage Networker Express. 

This period coincided with a transfer to Atkins which further broadened the opportunities for his project management skills across the whole rail system including managing design improvements to a busy London Underground station which included a number of heritage features.  

He has recently produced the technical description detailing the fleet options for the InterCity Express Programme, which has currently led to orders for 866 vehicles for both Great Western and East Coast routes.

Richard also spent two years working in Denmark on their ERTMS installation project where the whole country is to be fitted with a Level 2 ERTMS system.

He became involved with the Midlands Centre of the Railway Division as Secretary and Treasurer in 1987 and participated in a number of summer technical visits to broaden his knowledge and understanding of European rail systems. 

He expanded his interest in the Railway Division by joining the Board and chaired a number of seminars on sustainability in the rail industry.  He later became a Vice-Chairman with special responsibility for Communications and Railway Engineers Forum and has recently been awarded the Eur Ing qualification.

Chair 2015 - 2016

Chris Kinchin-Smith has been Managing Director of KS Transport Consultants Ltd since 2004.  His principal fee-earning work at present is as Project Director for the UK’s Long Term Passenger Rolling Stock Strategy.  This is published annually by a pan-industry group comprising rolling stock owners, train operators, Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group.  He has undertaken a wide variety of railway-related consultancy assignments in the UK and overseas, both with his own company and previously with Booz Allen Hamilton in 1996 to 2001.

He joined British Rail in 1968 as an Engineering Scholarship student, and was sponsored through Nottingham University (BSc Mechanical Engineering, 1st Class Honours, 1968 to 1971).  Following a 15-month period with Voluntary Service Overseas teaching mechanical engineering to technicians in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka, he resumed his career with British Rail and progressed into increasingly senior roles in fleet maintenance management, with the then new fleets of InterCity 125 high speed trains, and with diesel and electric multiple-unit trains.  In 1989 he moved into strategic planning and general management with British Rail’s Network SouthEast business unit.  He was an Executive Director (responsible for the long distance routes and for operational performance) of the Strategic Rail Authority in 2001 to 2002, and has twice been a train operating company Managing Director, most recently with First Great Western in 2002 to 2004.  

He has been a committee member of the IMechE Railway Division’s (RD) SW Centre since 2005, becoming its Chairman for a three year period commencing in April 2012.  He has been a RD Board member since the same date, and Deputy Chairman of the RD since June 2014.  His main focus with the SW Centre has been to develop new synergies and relationships between the RD, the Universities and railway engineering employers in the SW Centre’s geographical area, and the other engineering institutions.  He is a member of the RD’s Skills Task Force and sees the promotion of railway engineering as a career to school and University students as being his highest single priority as Chairman of the RD.

His Chairman’s Address will be on the theme of “Growth and Transformation - The Opportunities and Challenges of Growth in Passenger Demand on Britain’s Railways”.



Chris Kinchin-Smith
Managing Director
KS Transport Consultants Ltd



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Managing Director of Xrail Group

Xrail Group is a provider of design, assurance, installation, commissioning and maintenance services for rail signalling, telecoms, and minor lineside equipment, with operations in the UK, Saudi Arabia and Spain. Noel joined this SME in May 2021 with a remit to develop a UK offering to match its international businesses and elevating its engagement in the sector, whilst improving its governance and professionalising its operations.

After leaving Unipart Group in 2020, Noel set up his own consultancy business, providing Interim Executive support to the rail sector. Noel continues to provide support to a small number of SMEs to help them to develop their business in the rail sector in the UK and overseas.

In July 2016, Noel joined Unipart Group as MD of its rail division and took on the additional responsibility for Unipart Manufacturing Group in January 2019. In this role, Noel was responsible for all of Unipart’s manufacturing businesses in the rail and automotive sectors and the supply chain business in the rail sector, operating in the UK, the US, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Noel joined Bombardier Transportation in 2008 as Sales Director for the Passengers Division in the UK, then added South Africa into his responsibility in 2011. In 2013 Noel moved into the Project Management function as VP Project Management, taking full P&L responsibility for all Electrostar new build projects. At the start of 2014, Noel added P&L responsibility for all Electrostar maintenance contracts into his Portfolio. In June 2014 Noel was asked to take over the role as Head of Project Management and Managing Director UK, responsible for the UK manufacturing and services business, excluding Crossrail and LU projects.

Prior to Bombardier Transportation, Noel worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was Senior Director, Transport and Infrastructure, in its Structured Asset Finance business. In this role, Noel was responsible for all “non-RoSCo” rail asset financing internationally. Before RBS, Noel was a Vice President at GATX Capital Corporation, where he was responsible for business development in the European market, and for managing GATX Capital’s existing portfolio of European rail investments. Earlier in his career, Noel held various engineering and management posts in the pre and post privatisation British Rail.

Noel is a Chartered Engineer, and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from Loughborough University and a MSc in Rail Systems Engineering from the University of Sheffield.