Bonnie is the CEO of Young Rail Professionals (YRP). She has been on the board since 2020 and has been elected to her second term at the helm. She is the first woman to hold this position through two elections and the second person in YRP's history to do so. Her day job is as a management consultant within the rail industry.
RailStaff Editor, Matt Atkins, has worked in journalism and publishing for over 15 years. In that time, he’s worked for numerous trade publications focusing on sectors as diverse as high finance, recruitment, maritime shipping, and now rail.
Matt joined Rail Media from the academic publisher, Taylor & Francis, where he edited leading journals covering the humanities, science and technology, and medicine.
Natasha is part of the Exec Team at the independent watchdog Transport Focus as a Director leading on Rail. She has been a part of the Rail Industry for over 22 years most of that time with Virgin Trains.
Natasha started her career on the Frontline and held several roles covering a breadth of areas from customer experience, customer strategy, brand, people & culture that led to her being a part of the Exec Team at Virgin Trains and Avanti West Coast. She is passionate about customer experience within the transport sector and has worked in both Aviation and Rail during her career.
Engineering Director at HS1 Ltd, with over 20 years’ experience in developing asset management capabilities for both UK main-line and high-speed railways. Responsible for providing client leadership to HS1’s supply chain, fulfilling the Asset Stewardship objectives in the concession agreement and ensuring that HS1 Ltd continues to protect, enhance and grow the asset.
I have previously worked as Infrastructure Maintenance Delivery Manager leading a multi-disciplined team on a busy part of the network, as well as Head of Signalling Control and Communications Engineering, Route Asset Manager (Signals) and Route Asset Systems and Integration Manager at Network Rail - leading the development of a combined asset management plan for Anglia route.
I am married with two children and enjoy music and cycling!
Stephen is the Chair of UKTram, a not-for-profit membership body, representing all light rail and ‘other guided transport’ systems in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. A highly experienced transport executive, he has a successful background in strategic development, business planning and operations management - most recently as Executive Director and Director General of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE), where he was responsible for the delivery of public transport services across South Yorkshire.
Since joining the SYPTE in 2015, Stephen has led the promotion of the organisation across a diverse stakeholder group, acting as an ambassador and effectively representing it at a local, regional, and national level with government departments, the Transport Commissioner, commercial transport operators, and other formal bodies and organisations.
Stephen is a former director and Chair of the Urban Transport Group, and has previously worked in a range of senior management roles in both local government and the private sector.
A graduate of the University of Kent at Canterbury, where he earned a BSc in Electronic Engineering, Stephen holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management and a Masters in Business Administration at City University Business School and Manchester Business School, respectively.
Tonie has provided Health and Safety, Assurance and Quality Management consultancy advice across a variety of industries, including high-risk sectors such as rail and construction. Her assignments and roles over the last 30+ years have included safety change initiatives, large scale safety improvement programmes, and generating compliant policies, procedures and assurance frameworks.
Tonie has working expertise in supporting clients, programmes and projects in both advisory and implementation scenarios.
Tonie’s early days began within the construction industry, as a Construction Materials Technician, whilst studying Civil Engineering.
Her introduction to the rail industry came in the late 90s when she joined West Coast Modernisation Programme, as a Quality Manager. She transitioned into safety in the early 2000s and completed her NEBOSH Diploma in 2007 and became a Chartered Member of IOSH in 2018.
Tonie has worked for a range of organisations in her 30 +year career including London Underground, Transport for London, Rail for London, Network Rail, Metrolinx, Alstom, West Midland Trains, Achilles (RISQS, UVDB and BuildingConfidence schemes), Metro Consulting, Mace and TUSP.
For me, the highlight was my time with the Network Rail Safety Task Force where I was able to couple my safety experiences with my qualifications in Change Management The Safety Task Force made me determined to be the best safety professional (and human being), I can be, as well as a supporter of others, an ally, a coach and someone who wants everyone to be able to go home safely to their loved ones at the end of a working day….in fact at the end of any day!
My time with the Safety Task Force, has also rekindled my desire to help others, including those in the safety or rail industries. For this reason, I have taken an active role on the IOSH Railway group.
A new member to the IOSH Railway Group committee, as well as a member of the Chartered Quality Institute- Railway Special Interest group.Currently, mentoring individuals in the railway safety and quality spheres including young Australian graduates new to the UK rail industry.
