Leading the development of technical strategies to deliver the products and services required for the evolution of Britain’s railway infrastructure, where step changes in efficiency means rationalisation and centralisation of control - eight hundred signalboxes will become fourteen Route Operating Controls; largely to be achieved within the next decade. This will radically increase demand for communications services and the need for NRT to achieve mission-critical equipment reliability levels. NRT’s communication network will entirely support the control of trains, operational voice communications for railway management, level crossing protection systems and the control of the railway electrification systems - which will themselves be undergoing a level of expansion not seen since the 1960s. Current activities include both the near-technology comfort areas around facilitating a fourth generation mobile layer across the railway infrastructure, and the use of others’ expertise in the complex strategisation of the future evolution of voice communications across the rail infrastructure. I recently spoke at Railway Telecommunications 2012, covering “Taking the Fat Pipe to the Train”, am shaping the UIC 2013 GSM-R Conference, and am an active member of the UIC Future Communications group, defining the technology that will replace GSM-R.

The parallel pressures from the formation of NRT and Network Rail making its submission for funding in Control Period 5 (2014-2019) made the responsibilities of the incumbent Technology Manager untenable. As acting Technology Manager, I took a team of ten technology specialists through a process of NRT creation, relocation to Milton Keynes, redundancy and team expansion through external recruitment. This was during a period of devolution within the wider rail industry, meaning heightened demands on the team for technical support, assessment of products and the move to communications service offerings. Greater team engagement was achieved through extending monthly team meetings to include knowledge sharing, and meeting at suppliers’ premises to include technical visits. The responsibilities of my substantive role continued during this period, and strategic contacts were deepened as my place in the team setting the technical and strategic direction for NRT emerged.

Leading a small team of Radio and Operational Communications specialists providing railway operational communications technical strategy and direction to Network Rail and the wider GB rail industry though particiaption in cross-industry groups.

A member of Network Rail's Telecoms National Specialist Team looking both at issues of the survivability of legacy analogue operational radio systems and the present & future challenges of implementing GSM-R and trackside wireless connectivity. Acts as Network Rail's point of contact with Ofcom and the business radio community for issues of radio spectrum management.

Secondment into the DfT Rail Digital Services team. Supporting Government work moving towards a ubiquitously connected train. Bringing an infrastructure and network integration achievability dimension to DfT's optioneering work.

Sub-divided and scoped the telecoms work packages after Corning (as part of the CSEE, Corning, Amey consortium) won CTRL Section 1 workpackage 550 (control and communincations). Went on to specify, tender and sub-contract the radio communications workpackage; project engineering the sub-contractors' deliverables, and commissioning the Cab Secure Radio, GSM-R and emergency services radio sysytems.

The gradual move from state-owned rail infrastructure operator to public telecomms operator and supplier of communications services to the new rail industry gave both challenges and opportunities for personal development.

Intitially as a Student Engineer, leading to an evolving career path in maintenance roles, including a latter period responsible for technical management of the company's hill-top radio masts.