Technology in rail

Toufic heads up an exciting, first of its kind and fully funded scheme that will deliver a higher performing and more productive railway, create a catalyst for the wider network in building the capability and learning for a more digital railway. This is a huge opportunity for suppliers involved in AI, Tech and Digital Transformation to register and listen to Toufic explain what he and his team are looking to achieve with suppliers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Stewart is Director of Fares, Ticketing & Retail at GBRTT.  The programme he leads is delivering transformational change and improvement to customer experience. An experienced commercial leader, Stewart has led successful marketing, digital, product and customer experience strategies in media, retail, financial services, technology, and rail industries – most recently as Commercial Director at Abellio.

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.