Delivering a NetZero Railway

I studied forestry and ecology as an undergraduate (Edinburgh) and a post-graduate (Portsmouth).  After a brief foray in to the furniture industry manging European funded research projects, I joined the railway in 2001 as the its first arboriculturist.  20-odd years later I am biodiversity strategy manager providing expertise and support on sustainable management of the whole estate necessary to improve the safety and biodiversity of the rail network.  My early railway roles worked on management of lineside assets including vegetation and boundary measures.  My current focus is delivering guidance and tools to integrate the management of biodiversity on the rail network into existing practice.  This work has to take account of environmental and social obligations on an estate where trains pass at up to 125mph.

Jonathan Brown is Strategic Rail Lead at Transport for the North, the sub-National Transport Body for the North of England.  Transport for the North is a partnership of Mayoral Combined Authorities and local authorities across the North and our role is to support and add value, particularly on cross-cutting issues like rail. Jonathan’s role involves supporting delivery of the Strategic Transport Plan including through the Northern Powerhouse Rail programme. Jonathan is a transport planner and has worked at Transport for the North since 2016 having previously worked in local transport and economic development agencies. He has led work on improving local and regional rail services through increased frequency and capacity and supported development of Transport for the North’s rail strategy which recognises the need for further electrification in the North.

Garry is a career electrification engineer with 34 years’ experience in the industry. Garry joined BR’s graduate training scheme in 1991 and since then has delivered a wide range of AC and DC electrification designs on projects in the UK and overseas including major multidisciplinary projects. He has been involved with many of the UK electrification projects in the UK, including Great Western and Midland Mainline.

Garry is Technical Director for Atkins and acts as Atkins' Professional Head for Electrification. He is also responsible for all Atkins OLE design in the South West. He is the author of the standard reference book on electrification, “Overhead Line Electrification for Railways” which is available as a free download.

Tawhida Yaacoub Programme Lead at Midlands Connect joined since 2022 as part of the Rail team. Following a career “on the ground” working on the railway as a Station Manager, a Senior Conductor Manager with London Midland and West Midlands Trains and as a Station Alliance Lead with West Midlands Rail Executive. Prior to her career in the railway, Tawhida worked abroad for the United Nations and before that for a number of years in television news production.

During her time at Midlands Connect, she spearheaded the rail corridor infrastructure improvement projects on the Nottingham to Lincoln rail corridor and the Black Country-Shrewsbury corridor. As well leading on Multimodal projects to do with Network Resilience and Multimodal Interchange in the Midlands.

After gaining a Masters in Meteorology Julie embarked on her career by working at the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, firstly in climate research, and later in climate impacts consultancy. She then went on to work for Network Rail in operational weather resilience followed by a variety of project roles including as senior sponsor of the enhanced sea walls at Dawlish in Devon. She now leads the Climate Resilience and Sustainable Growth team for Network Rail’s Wales & Western Region, aiming to deliver a simpler, better, greener railway fit for the future.