Rail Passenger Experience

Bob Powell, Head of Inclusive Customer Experience, Avanti West Coast

Bob’s role at Avanti West Coast includes using customer and colleague insight to continuously improve the day to day delivery of customer experience at our stations and onboard our trains.  This includes improving customer service in times of disruption and delivering a service that is accessible for all our customers.

Guy Dangerfield heads Transport Focus’s strategy and intelligence function and leads delivery of a number of areas of the watchdog’s business plan, including work to improve the handling of service disruption and ensuring that transport users’ interests are at the heart of decisions.

Silviya Barrett is Director of Policy and Campaigns at Campaign for Better Transport – the national charity championing high quality, affordable sustainable transport. Silviya joined the charity in February 2020. She is responsible for building the organisation’s policy, research and campaigns programme and managing external engagement. She also leads project delivery and local engagement. Prior to that, she was Research Manager at think tank Centre for London.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/silviya-barrett-56ba454/

Mark Ilderton, Service Delivery Director

Responsibilities

The service delivery directorate oversees the day-to-day running of our train service.

The team comprises of the majority of our front-line customer facing colleagues at stations and on train, provide information to customers to allow them to plan their journey, and delivering the service our customers expect and deserve. The team also includes integrated control, and operational safety.

Biography

Mark joined the railway in 2008, starting as an Operations and Customer Service Trainee at Network Rail.

It was during this time Mark was trained as a Signaller before taking on his first role as a Mobile Operations Manager responsible for incident response and management across Yorkshire and the North East. From there Mark became a Local Operations Manager leading teams of Signallers across a number of areas, including Elgin where he moved in 2010 and later Edinburgh.

In 2014 Mark was appointed Station Manager at Glasgow Central before becoming Head of Integrated Control when the ScotRail and Network Rail teams came together as one team truly putting customers at the heart of all decision making. More recently Mark has been Head of Drivers before stepping into the Service Delivery Director role in January 2024.

Glen Merryman is Head of Route Stations at Network Rail. During his career, he has played a significant role in the railway industry, particularly through his involvement with the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators (CIRO) and the Golden Whistle Awards.

Some of his notable achievements include:

• Recognising Excellence in Railway Operations – As a judge for the Golden Whistle Awards, Glen has contributed to celebrating and promoting best practices in railway performance.
• Leadership in CIRO – He has served as the South East Area Chair of CIRO, helping to shape industry standards and professional development.
• Industry Advocacy – Glen has been involved in discussions and events aimed at improving railway operations, including recognising companies for their advancements in punctuality and efficiency.
• Supporting Freight Performance – As part of the Golden Whistle Awards judging panel, he has acknowledged improvements in freight operations, highlighting the dedication and hard work of railway professionals.

His contributions have helped drive improvements in railway performance and industry standards.

Sven Koster is head of Innovation and New Business Development at GoMedia. He has almost 10 years of experience improving the customer experience for passengers with digital passenger facing solutions. From infotainment portals, messaging solutions, at seat ordering solutions and accessibility solutions. Sven has extensive knowledge working together with cross industry partners, to deliver the best solutions to improve the customer experience for public transport.

I’m network Rail#’s head of strategy responsible for outlining future business capability, engaging the martket place for innovation and finding partnerships to prove technologies can work in a rail environment.

I have 18 years industry  experience of leading people, process and technology transformation implementation, in areas including areas such as logistics, telecoms, timetabling, major projects and Network Rail regional businesses.

Duncan is a UK-based independent rail consultant with over 20 years expertise in ticketing, fares, retail, and real time customer information. Duncan has worked across the GB rail industry including at Trainline as interim Future Ticketing Director; Rail Delivery Group as Retail Strategy Director; and at the nascent GBRTT to set up the pay-as-you-go Director role.  He has worked on rail bid and mobilisation teams, including helping to win and mobilise Northern and London Overground for Arriva; and he led the Darwin Real Time programme for National Rail Enquiries including commissioning the Real Time Journey Planner.

Duncan now offers interim consultancy, using his extensive knowledge of the processes, systems and people within GB rail, government, and regulatory organisations, to help clients define and deliver their strategic business objectives.

Duncan holds an MBA from Cranfield University School of Management and BSc from Loughborough University of Technology.

John has worked in the railway industry for over twenty years. He is an experienced leader in transport ticketing, digital and payments, with a strong track record of delivering innovation, revenue growth and customer satisfaction.

At RDG he leads the Digital Ticketing Services team, which supports operators, authorities, retailers – and ultimately Great British Railways – in improving the rail ticketing experience for their customers. This includes the management of smartcard and barcode ticketing systems, as well as future strategies such as pay-as-you-go and cEMV ticketing.

Founder and director of consultancy Consumer Focus. Chair of Independent Rail Retailers, Heathrow Area Transport Forum, National Transport Awards and the Customer Service Excellence category at the National Rail Awards. Anthony is also a member of the Affinity Water Independent Challenge Group.

Anthony was the chief executive at Transport Focus. Prior to that he worked at Consumers’ Association, Consumers International, as a solicitor and the regulator of premium rate telephone services.

David Worsley has worked in the rail industry for 23 years, alternating between roles in risk management and strategic planning. In his role of Rail Strategy Manager at Transport for the North, he has been leading work on accessibility at rail stations across the region, which recently culminated in the issue of Statutory Advice to the government on the issue. He has previously worked on High Speed 2 and Transpennine Route Upgrade, has taught risk management and project economics at Newcastle University, and is currently on the board of the UK Chapter of the International Association for Strategy Professionals.

Georgina Taylor is the Accessibility Manager for East West Rail  (EWR)  and a dedicated inclusion champion committed to advancing equitable and accessible rail infrastructure along the EWR route. With over 20 years of previous experience in customer service and operational leadership in the aviation industry, she offers broad expertise in how organisational systems and physical environments impact accessibility and inclusion. She chairs an EWR Accessibility Panel, where she gains valuable lived experience to support inclusive design development for East West Rails new infrastructure. 

Emma Vogelmann is Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns at Transport for All, where she leads the organisation’s influencing strategy to improve access to transport for disabled people. She has driven high-impact campaigns, including successfully halting the proposed closure of rail ticket offices, and regularly works with government ministers, MPs, and transport operators to push for change. Emma has extensive experience in evidence-based policymaking, and her work is rooted in co-production with disabled people. She brings a strong track record of securing political commitments, shaping inclusive policy, and ensuring that accessibility remains at the heart of transport reform.

Ben Bourton-Payne (he/him/his) is Head of Customer Experience Development for the whole-industry Customer and Revenue Growth (C&RG) team – which was formerly part of GBRTT. He leads the drive for consistent, measurable customer service across the rail network.

With a background spanning customer experience strategy, frontline operations, fares and ticketing, and passenger information, Ben works with train companies, Network Rail, the Rail Delivery Group and the Department for Transport to define what good looks like, quantify the benefits and finds opportunities to embed change on the ground. He champions practical, passenger-centred solutions which keep things simple, inclusive and easy for everyone.

Beyond rail, Ben is a non-executive director and charity trustee of Wolverhampton Grand Theatre and advises the LGBT Foundation on inclusion, revenue development, strategy, and growth.

David has worked in transport for over 30 years, first as a Civil Engineer in Highways and more latterly for 13 years in Rail working alongside TOCs, the DfT and RDG in the digital space, to ensure that customers remain at the centre of our future thinking.

As a key supplier of digital information and ticketing to passengers on behalf of several rail operators as well as key contracts such as National Rail Enquiries and the Timetable Comparator Service, SilverRail is keen to enable and promote a much-improved customer experience for all constituents within the UK rail space.

Having previously worked with many large-scale organizations including National Express Group, Virgin Trains (West Coast) and the Department of Transport, David has witnessed the passenger proposition from all sides.

William McGookin (Head of Ticketing Technology) has worked in public transport and ticketing systems for almost 30 years.  He started in Translink in 1995 as a Graduate Management Trainee and had a background in Bus and Rail Operations management before forming Translink’s new Ticketing Systems Department in 2002.  He was a key member of the Translink Project team who delivered the previous (legacy) ticketing system in 2001/02 where Translink were one of the first operators in the UK to implement smartcard travel products for both concessionary and fare-paying customers. Since then the original system has been developed over the years to offer a wide range of personalised and anonymous smartcard products, mobile ticketing, barcode ticketing and other online ticket options.  William is currently leading the Programme to deliver Translink’s Future Ticketing System across all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland.  This is a £51m capital project which seeks to upgrade all of Translink’s ‘end of life’ ticketing equipment with the latest technology as a new platform for Translink’s proposed Account Based Ticketing System.  The proposed ABT system will be a Tap On Tap Off system on Rail (Tap On Only on Bus) and will accept contactless EMV.  William and his team are working with multiple suppliers to implement the remaining elements of the system over the next 18 months, simultaneously managing all areas of business change to ensure a seamless migration for staff and customers from legacy to new products.

The Fares, Ticketing and Retail Programme is the single point reference point for the entire rail industry, encompassing the Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Transport Operator (DfTO), Rail Delivery Group (RDG), Train Operating Companies (TOCs), and Shadow GBR (sGBR). 

By bringing the industry together as 'one team,' this programme aims to reform fares, ticketing, and retail, delivering tangible benefits for taxpayers and passengers alike. It fosters a model of empowerment, focusing on local and iterative delivery whilst leading a comprehensive industry-wide plan, to support the transition to Great British Railways.