Technology in rail

Toufic leads the sectors strategic innovation body to create a more productive, digital railway, offering key insights for suppliers in AI, tech, and digital transformation.

Nassar has more than 20 years of experience as an engineer, project leader and business manager on hugely challenging mega-projects in the rail and transportation sector in the UK and internationally. He has worked in the private sector for most of his career to date with large professional services companies such as AtkinsRealis and WSP and has for the past 4 years worked at HS2 in the public sector as the Director of Systems Integration. Nassar is also a lecturer, mentor and advisor to University College London as an Honorary Professor and a Visiting Fellow at Southampton Business School in the areas of systems thinking and complex systems leadership challenges.

An accomplished and strategic leader in the railway industry, appointed as the Chief Operating Officer at the Railway Industry Association (RIA) in July 2024. This role encompasses overseeing the Operations, Marketing & Events, and Member Relations teams. Previously held the position of Innovation Director at RIA, leading the Unlocking Innovation programme to drive groundbreaking advancements and fostering collaborative success across the UK rail sector.


Milda's career tenure includes pivotal roles where AI and digital transformation were championed to improve operational efficiencies and pioneering strategic policy development, delivering industry-leading thought leadership reports, and effecting policy changes through effective lobbying.


Milda joined RIA as a consultant in July 2018, becoming a full-time member of the team in April 2019, working within both the Technical & Innovation and Public Affairs & Policy functions.

Prior to joining RIA, Milda founded and led the Global AirRail Alliance, a membership organisation promoting rail access to airports and airline-railway collaborations, especially around ticketing and passenger experience. 

Milda started her career as a transport journalist in Lithuania, where she worked at a family business, writing for and editing the international transport and logistics publication JURA MOPE SEA.

Head of Engineering – Rail Partners

Neil has over 35 years professional engineering experience across the rail, white goods and energy sectors. Neil has worked in rail for nearly 20 years and was most recently Head of Engineering at Rail Delivery Group, where he led a small team of professional rolling stock engineers leading on fleet performance measurement and reporting, fleet safety and standards, innovation and technology across rail.

Neil brings significant experience in serving and delivering at a sustained high level for a member focussed organisation from his time at RDG and before that at ATOC.

Want to know how Network Rail is leading the way in using technology to prevent failures before they happen? Check out this this case study to learn more about insight – our predictive maintenance tool. It highlights how we use AI to understand the masses of data we already collect on the railway, and how we use that to pinpoint and fix faults before they delay passenger and freight.

I support the transport and infrastructure sectors to innovate with the adoption of AI, IoT, Digital Twins and Digital supply chains.

Funded by the governments Innovate UK, Digital catapult is a not-for-profit business support organisation operating as a collaborative hub for startups, businesses, the public sector and investors.

Robert started his railway career as a graduate civil engineer over 29 years ago, gaining a wealth of experience in several technical, managerial and leadership roles in maintenance, renewals, operations, design and engineering management within Balfour Beatty and Network Rail. He leads a diverse Technology team in Network Rail primarily researching and developing solutions to Network Rail’s key challenges expressly using data and digital technology to help improve safety, performance in a cost-efficient way, to drive environmentally sustainable benefits and help make rail more resilient for today and in the future. He is a passionate promoter of people & skills development, celebrating the benefits of working with people from diverse backgrounds, working collaboratively with academia and industry partners in the UK and internationally, including engaging and learning from different sectors.

Tim is a Railway Maintenance professional specialising in the deployment of innovative technology and processes to improve asset reliability and efficiency. Prior to joining KONUX Tim dedicated 21 years to Network Rail with leading roles in data management, planning, and leading complex organizational changes. His notable achievements include the introduction of large-scale machine vision technology for track inspections, setting a global benchmark for its implementation as the largest scale rollout of such technology in the world. As Professional Head of Maintenance, Tim was instrumental in scoping, initiating and securing funding for the £190 million Intelligent Infrastructure Programme, later overseeing its execution as Chief Intelligent Infrastructure Engineer. At KONUX, Tim initially led the UK market and, as of 2024, expanded his role to include Northern Europe and International Business Development. Tim’s career is marked by a commitment to advancing railway operations through strategic innovation and collaboration.

John leads a rapidly growing team of 450 digital, data and technology professionals in the Aerospace, Defence, Security and Technology Division in the UK; part of a wider community of over 800 professionals across the global AtkinsRéalis Group. He has led projects and programmes across domains including defence, security, energy, transport and water.

 

John is a Member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology and he has a Master of Engineering degree.

Kerry has commercial responsibility for solutions that enable retail, revenue management and customer experience enhancements for Arriva’s UK trains division, which includes four train operating companies – Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Grand Central and Arriva Rail London.  Responsibilities span across both traditional and digital retail solutions that maximise commercial opportunities and enhance customer experience. This includes optimising the companies' systems and exploring new product developments and market innovations, as well as bolt-on enhancements. Working closely with suppliers, Kerry ensures their business strategies are aligned with Arriva’s long-term objectives by tracking future trends and exploring ideas and new-to-market products that could be deployed across multiple businesses.

Thomas is a digital technology leader with extensive experience in the rail and travel industries, specialising in digital transformation. Currently the Head of Digital Products at GBRTT, he drives innovation in the industry by driving the policy and strategy to transform the digital experience across rail with data-driven solutions that enhance customer experience, streamline operations, improve efficiency and reduce the cost of sale. Committed to fostering collaboration across diverse teams, Thomas champions the use of digital tools to shape a sustainable, resilient future for rail.

We still have a lot of hurdles to jump to get it right, especially in integrating different transport modes and how to merge a complex load of industry data. Breaking down this complex area in the context of demands on local authority capacity and capabilities remains a challenge. Helping our public sector colleagues take on this complex task is central for Transport for the North; as is maximising the operational impact of national strategies the national Transport Data Strategy. Similarly, is the strategic need to balance the private sector’s technical skill and innovation with what the public purse can afford, and the policy objectives we collectively wan to, meet will be key to ensuring that advancements in ticketing technology benefit everyone. 

A research and insight specialist currently leading social research and insight projects at Connected Places Catapult. A strong advocate for stakeholder collaboration to generate impact using creative approaches to better understand data and insight to inform strategy, measure impact and drive forward new initiatives. Steve applies a multi-disciplinary approach to enable smarter and more human-centred decisions to understand problem spaces and develop solutions. He is currently the Catapult technical lead for Station Innovation Zone at Bristol Temple Meads and has used techniques such as segmentation and personas to understand the market for new mobility solutions within the West Midlands and to increase public acceptance of drones. Steve has previously worked extensively in the social housing sector, with local authorities and central government, and in commercial market research.

Steve leads the command-and-control business at TSS, a systems integrator focussed upon specialised voice communications, and other real-time systems, in transportation, energy and utilities, as well as financial markets.

 

His wide-ranging career spans software development through to starting new businesses, and along the way he has developed and implemented many telecoms and network systems, CRM and ERP applications, managed international IT operations, and pioneered the use of AI-based speech analytics. He is now creating solutions for specific applications within the railway industry.

 

Working with telecoms professional within rail, he developed the ideas behind PETS-IP, the subject being discussed today.

A signalling and assurance expert with over 30 years’ experience in leading innovation-focussed engineering projects and programmes. A highly skilled and respected industry leader excelling in helping the rail industry implement technology improvement and support its people through both process and governance change.

 

Working in the Network Rail System Authority Darren chairs and provides industry expertise to a number of industry groups including the Drivers Advisory System Board (chair), Future Control Command Signalling Guiding Body, Overspeed Management Task Group and the Vehicle Train Control & Command Signalling Interface Committee.

 

The System Authority owns, and maintains the industry agreed Digital Rail Requirements suite leading on their support and ongoing maturity development. Additionally, the System Authority is leading on the Speed Management and absolute train positioning concept where Darren is the technical lead.

Ryan Versteeg-Biln has over 20 years of experience in infrastructure asset management, both as an operator and as a consultant. At AtkinsRéalis, he is responsible for delivery of Asset Management services within Canada, as well as supporting and promoting the development and use of Digital Asset Management tools. In his previous role as Engineering Manager of the Canada Line LRT in Vancouver, Canada, he was responsible for lifecycle delivery of all systems assets (Fleet, Infrastructure, & Systems) as well as the development and implementation of the Canada Line Digital Twin

An expert in the world of Railway Timetable Analysis, Modelling & Simulation. After starting in NR 9 years ago, Alec has been using Digital Twins ever since, developing Standards for the Industry and working with suppliers to uplift their offering. Within the System Operator team he has developed and overseen automated processes to increase speed, relevance and usability of modelling, particularly focussed on using the Digital twins to calculate timetable building blocks and providing feedback on the performance of Timetable Options.

Scott is the Head of Technology at High Speed 1, the infrastructure owner of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, connecting London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.  Studying for an MSc in Digital and Technology solutions at Northeastern University, and responsible for IT, Cybersecurity, Research & Development and Innovation, and Asset Technology, Scott is responsible for setting the strategic digital vision of the HS1 railway and ensuring that its business and asset systems deliver a high-performing railway and exceptional customer experience.  Scott is an active member of tech-related industry forums and cares about promoting careers in infrastructure through technology-based careers.  Scott has previously worked in Europe and Asia on the digital design of football stadiums, airports and life sciences campuses before moving into digital infrastructure.