Barry White
Chief Executive
Transport for the North

Barry leads the development and delivery of Transport for the North's Strategic Transport Plan and provides strategic leadership to deliver the organisation's vision of a thriving North of England where modern transport connections drive economic growth and support an excellent quality of life.

He is accountable for the overall performance of the organisation, its integrity and activities.

Andy Burnham
Mayor of Greater Manchester

Andy Burnham was elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017.

Responsible for shaping the future of Greater Manchester, Andy's priorities include ending rough sleeping, transforming Greater Manchester into one of the greenest city regions in Europe, and making Greater Manchester a great place to live, get on, and grow old.

As the Greater Manchester Combined Authority portfolio lead for Transport, the Mayor has prioritised tackling congestion, reforming bus services, investing in world-class cycling and walking infrastructure and working with Transport for the North to improve rail services across the city-region.

Before being elected Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy was MP for Leigh from 2001. In government, Andy has held Ministerial positions at the Home Office, Department of Health and the Treasury. In 2008 he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, before returning to Health as Secretary of State in 2009.

In opposition, Andy has served as Shadow Education Secretary, Shadow Health Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary.

Andy lives in Leigh, Greater Manchester, with his wife and three children. He is a keen supporter of Everton FC.

Prof. David Begg - Session Chair
Chief Executive
Transport Times

Prof David Begg is Chief Executive of Portobello Partnership Ltd which specialises in strategic advice to clients in the transport sector; publishes Transport Times online blogs and runs a series of transport best practice awards in conjunction with the Department for Transport, Transport Scotland, Transport for London and Transport for the North.

He is a non-executive board member of Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, is a member of the Cubic Transportation Systems' Advisory Board and chairs EAMS Group.

From 1999 to 2005 he chaired the Government's Commission for Integrated Transport which was set up to advise the Government on transport policy and to monitor performance. He was a board member of Transport for London from 2000 to 2006 before joining Tube Lines as chairman (2006-2010). He was a non-executive director of the Strategic Rail Authority and before that British Rail. From 2005-2014 David was a Non-Executive Director of First Group Ltd.

Before moving to London he was Professor of Transport Policy at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. He is a visiting professor in Transport at Plymouth University. In the 1990s he was the political lead on transport on Lothian Region and then the City of Edinburgh councils.

David Sidebottom - Session Chair
Passenger Director
Transport Focus

David has been with Transport Focus since January 2006 and previously spent over 11 years representing the needs and interests of energy consumers in the north west of England where he was Regional Director of energywatch, the gas and electricity consumer council.

Robert Drewery
Commercial Director
Optare

Robert has over 15 years of national and international sales and marketing experience gained within the bus and commercial vehicle industries at a senior level.

Robert's career in the commercial vehicle and bus industry started with Leyland Daf where he gained extensive experience in both sales and aftersales, followed by the role of business development director of the truck maintenance company, Pullman Fleet Services.
More recently Robert led the Wrightbus sales team to win a number of major UK and international contracts supplying Wrightbus products. Robert also oversaw the introduction and support of the New Routemaster.

Over the last 18 months at Optare, Robert has been focused on engaging with operators across the UK to the deliver an extensive demonstration programme for the new double deck product and extended range electric buses. He has also used his international sales experience to help expand Optare's presence in overseas markets, in particular Australia and South East Asia.

Russell Goodenough
Transportation and Logistics
Fujitsu

Russell Goodenough heads Fujitsu's Transportation and Logistics business and is a leading commentator on digitisation in the transport sector.

Russell is responsible for all of Fujitsu's transport activity across the public and private sectors covering key partnerships with the Department for Transport and its agencies, Transport for London, Network Rail, prominent rail and bus operators, and customers from the automotive, aviation and maritime subsectors.

Fujitsu's recent investments have focussed on digitising transport infrastructure and operations as providers pursue more passenger-centric solutions. Fujitsu has also invested in next generation data communications in response to demand both from passengers and operators keen to realise the benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Prior to joining Fujitsu, Russell spent 15 years in the defence industry with both BAE Systems and Marconi across a range of system integration projects.

Sir Peter Hendy CBE
Chair
Network Rail

Sir Peter Hendy is the Chairman of Network Rail, having joined in July 2015. Sir Peter was previously commissioner of Transport for London (TfL) in 2006, having served since 2001 as TfL's managing director of surface transport. He led, and played a key role in preparing for, the successful operation of London's transport for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was formerly deputy director UK Bus for FirstGroup and previously MD of CentreWest London Buses. He started his transport career in 1975 as a London Transport graduate trainee. Sir Peter was elected president of the International Public Transport Association (UITP) in May 2013. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transport and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was knighted in the 2013 New Year's Honours List, having been made CBE in 2006.

David Hoggarth
Strategic Rail Director
Transport for the North

David is Strategic Rail Director at Transport for the North (TfN), England's first sub-national transport body. David oversees TfN's strategic rail programme as well local input to the management of the Northern and TransPennine franchises (which are managed through a devolved team in Leeds). David led the development and implementation of rail devolution in the North of England (initially through Rail North) including the development a Long Term Rail Strategy for the North of England setting out how rail services should be further developed to contribute to economic growth and the Northern Powerhouse.

David was previously Director, Development for West Yorkshire Combined Authority and was West Yorkshire's lead on rail strategy, services and projects. Projects included the regeneration of Wakefield Kirkgate, new rail stations at Kirkstall, Apperley Bridge and Low Moor and the new Southern Entrance for Leeds Station. David was also responsible for the c £1.4bn West Yorkshire+ Transport Fund as part of the Leeds City Region Growth Deal. David has an M.Sc in Transport Planning from the University of Newcastle and worked for JMP Consultants and the City of York Council prior to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Peter Molyneux
Major Roads Director
Transport for the North

Peter leads the Major Roads team at Transport for the North, working in partnership with the Department for Transport, Highways England, Local and Combined Authorities to determine and deliver the priorities for investment on the Strategic and Major Road Network aligned to the North's Strategic Transport Plan.

Steve Montgomery
MD - UK Rail
FirstGroup

Steve's career in the railway industry spans almost 30 years, during which time he has gained significant experience in all aspects of rail management. He started his working life with British Rail and held various senior posts before becoming Operations and Safety Director at ScotRail, coinciding with FirstGroup taking over the franchise in 2004. He was appointed Managing Director of First ScotRail in 2009. Under his leadership, First ScotRail achieved the highest ever levels of customer satisfaction and punctuality in the franchise's history and won countless awards including Rail Operator of the Year in 2014 and Scottish Public Transport Operator of the Year in both 2012 and 2013.

Jim O'Sullivan
Chief Executive
Highways England

Jim O'Sullivan has been Chief Executive at Highways England since July 2015. Highways England operates the country's strategic road network and is delivering the government's £13bn investment programme, connecting key centres of economic activity, increasing road capacity and improving journey times.

He was previously Managing Director at Heathrow Airport Holdings (formerly BAA) - Airports Division and Edinburgh Airport and has spent much of his career within transportation, asset management, and utility organisations.

Jim holds a degree in Air Transport Engineering from City University, London and an MBA from Lancaster University. He is a Chartered Engineer and an alumnus of the MIT Senior Executive Programme.

Alastair Richards
Programme Director – Integrated and Smart Travel (IST)
Transport for the North

Alastair has over 30 years' experience in transport operations, project management and engineering, and over 17 years' experience in managing and directing transport delivery projects and franchise bids.

At TfN, he is responsible for the £150 Million Integrated and Smart Travel Programme which is working to deliver Account Based Ticketing across the North of England. Alastair works closely with DfT, Local Authority Partners and Bus and Train operators across the region as well as managing the team delivering the programme.

Previously, Alastair has led on delivering smart ticketing on bus, rail and ferry in Scotland. He has also managed several transport projects in the UK and abroad, including major projects in North America and Denmark, where he achieved a number of successful commercial outcomes in rail, bus and major urban transit schemes.

Tim Roberts
Key Account Manager
Cubic Transportation System

Tim Roberts leads on Business Development for UK Rail in Cubic Transportation with particular emphasis on working with the Train Operating Companies and the Rail Delivery Group to realise the development and introduction of new technologies in the areas of ticketing and revenue protection. Prior to Cubic, Tim comes from an Aerospace background having worked in R&D in previous organisations and then moving into a Business Development and Account Management roles within QinetiQ for a number of years.

Councillor Liam Robinson
Chair
Merseytravel

Cllr Liam Robinson is a Liverpool City Councillor, who has represented the Kensington and Fairfield Ward since 2008. He was elected Chair of Merseytravel in June 2012. Merseytravel is the Executive body that provides professional, strategic and operational transport advice to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to enable it to make informed decisions. It is also the delivery arm, making transport happen.

Cllr Robinson has key roles in strategic transport groups, ensuring the Liverpool City Region is at the 'top table' when it comes to influencing and decision making on a regional and national basis. He is city region representative on the Transport for the North board and currently Chairs the Rail North Limited Board.

Making public transport more affordable, particularly for young people, is a key focus for Cllr Robinson. He has championed the introduction of reduced price bus fares for all young people up to their 19th Birthday. The development of a bus strategy, believed to be the first of its kind, has been introduced under Cllr Robinson's chairmanship with the aim of focused collaboration between Merseytravel and the operators, with the joint objective of sustainable patronage growth

Cllr Robinson grew up in Cheshire and studied politics at Manchester University. He has held a number of management positions in the Bus, Coach and Rail sectors including managing three of Britain's largest railway stations: Liverpool Lime Street, London Liverpool Street and Sheffield.

Maggie Simpson
Executive Director
Rail Freight Group

Maggie Simpson is Executive Director at the Rail Freight Group, the representative body for rail freight in the UK.

Since joining in 2005 she has worked to promote growth in rail freight and to support member companies of the Group in their activities.

Simon Warburton
Transport Strategy Director
Transport for Grater Manchester

Simon Warburton is the Transport Strategy Director at TfGM, leading on the development of a forward transport policy, investment and funding strategy that will support the city region's ambitious growth programme and dovetail with major national interventions including the Greater Manchester HS2/Northern Powerhouse Rail Growth Strategy and the forthcoming Clean Air Plan.

During his 19 years in transport policy work for Greater Manchester, Simon has been involved in the development of four Local Transport Plans, the Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund debate and the Greater Manchester Transport Fund, which has supported the £2 billion investment programme that is now coming to a conclusion.

In recent times, his work has included the establishment of Greater Manchester's transport devolution policies, in preparation for the recently elected Mayor, the city region's Growth Deal investment programme and the development of Transport for the North. Much of this work has now culminated in Greater Manchester's forward-looking 2040 Transport Strategy, which provides an innovation-led blueprint for a future transport system that will meet the economic, social and environmental needs of the fast-growing city region.

Sir Peter Hendy CBE
Chair
Network Rail

Sir Peter Hendy is the Chairman of Network Rail, having joined in July 2015. Sir Peter was previously commissioner of Transport for London (TfL) in 2006, having served since 2001 as TfL's managing director of surface transport. He led, and played a key role in preparing for, the successful operation of London's transport for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He was formerly deputy director UK Bus for FirstGroup and previously MD of CentreWest London Buses. He started his transport career in 1975 as a London Transport graduate trainee. Sir Peter was elected president of the International Public Transport Association (UITP) in May 2013. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transport and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was knighted in the 2013 New Year's Honours List, having been made CBE in 2006.