Welcome to the Railway Study Forum

Shamit Gaiger is the Managing Director for West Coast Partnership Development (WCPD), the Shadow Operator for HS2, having joined the business in July 2022. 

Shamit boasts an extensive career in the rail sector; with previous roles at the Rail Safety and Standards Board; Director of Strategy at National Skills Academy for Rail; and at the Department for Transport where she led the Rail Sector Deal negotiations on behalf of the UK Government and was a Non-Executive Director for the DfT Passenger Services.

She is passionate about delivering improvements and great change within the industry, and proudly sits as a non-executive director of both Women in Rail and the Campaign for Better Transport.

Before joining WCPD, Shamit most recently managed the Advisory Europe team at AECOM - an international infrastructure consulting company. Now she is focused on leading WCPD in designing and developing train services for the new HS2 railway and the wider WCML, whilst driving change and championing new, improved standards in customer experience for future high-speed rail travel in the UK.

Currently Head of Passenger Service Excellence at Department for Transport, working in the Rail Passenger Services division. Simon joined British Rail as a management trainee in 1989 and has over 30 years’ experience at Government, Train Operating Company, network operations and strategic levels. Simon’s experience ranges from front line operational and commercial roles, managing major cultural changes, negotiating multi-million pound track access contracts and working with senior industry stakeholders and Ministers. Simon has been the Chair of the Railway Study Forum since June 2018 and was previously a committee member of the Railway Study Association.

Peter Gordon worked in the rail industry for 28 years in a number of roles across functions.  He completed a research degree looking at the feasibility of a large rail hub at Kings Cross and estimating how much traffic it would be likely to generate.  He took early retirement but is still active in the Rail Industry.  Apart from being involved with the CILT and RSF, Peter edits The Transport Economist, the journal of the Transport Economist Group and Chairs the Transport Statistics Users Group.

Viv is a non-practising solicitor who joined the DfT Rail Group Passenger Services within the Department for Transport in 2016 and is currently the Head of Contract Design and Management in DfT Passenger Services. Viv is an experienced commercial solicitor, with over 15 years in private practice and in-house companies, having qualified at Fieldfisher LLP. Viv has worked in the technology, media, energy and finance sectors including working on large scale public procurement bids (buy side and sell side). Viv is a contributing author to the Operational Guide to Contract and Commercial Management. Viv has been a RSF committee member since 2018.

Jac Starr currently works as CEO at the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and assumed this role on 1st December 2020. RDG is a leadership organisation providing key services to the industry and facilitating transformation and strategic activity. Jac is a customer champion advocating future proof change in support of evolving customer needs. Jac has previously held roles as Chief Operating Officer at RDG, and MD of Customer. Jac has worked as an internal consultant as Director of Experience in Barclays Design Office, Head of Experience at O2 UK and Head of Customer Experience and Loyalty at Orange France. Jac also has a NED role on the Board at LiveWest (Housing Association).

Neil Micklethwaite, a qualified accountant, has worked extensively in the public transport sector; mainly rail industry, and has experience in financial services, telecommunications, media and central government. Neil joined British Rail as a management trainee in 1992 and held senior financial and commercial roles at both First Great Western and Chiltern Railways. Neil joined Stagecoach’s East Midlands Trains business from the global media company CBS Outdoor Ltd, where he was UK Bus & Rail Director. Neil’s role was expanded to Commercial & Business Development Director, Rail, taking in all franchise bidding and other Rail division development opportunities. In Spring 2019, Neil became the Group’s Business Development Director, reporting into the plc FD on the main Board. Neil took responsibility for managing Stagecoach’s remaining UK Rail interests, as well as developing the Group’s wider strategy in bus, heavy and light rail development including contract bidding, managing long-standing partnerships and diversifying with new products and assessing new markets. Neil was the chair of the Rail Delivery Group Customer Board. Neil is a Vice-President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport.

Luke Ripley is a railway planning consultant with particular interests in strategic and operational planning, timetable development, fares policy and influencing modal-shift from road and air to rail, both domestically and internationally. Following graduation from Cambridge and Cranfield, Luke’s first transport planning role took him to South Africa, where he spent about six years. Returning to Britain around the turn of the century, Luke had a spell at the then Railtrack, before moving to The Railway Consultancy and working on projects have involved travel to Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Egypt. Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, as well as various parts of Britain. As a long-standing member of the Railway Study Association, the forerunner of CILT’s Railway Study Forum, Luke has taken part in many of the RSF’s overseas study visits and has served on their respective councils for several years.

Jason has over 27 years of rail experience, working for passenger operators, Rail Delivery Group and technology suppliers. Jason has a track-record of delivering change, having been involved in several successful strategically important rail industry programmes. Jason is Principal Consultant at 3Squared, a leading technology company that delivers innovative solutions into the rail industry, where he heads up their freight activity. As well as the Rail Study Forum Committee, Jason is a member of the Data and Information Systems Interface Committee (DISIC), which provides oversite in data governance for delivery of the Rail Technical Strategy, the Joint Rail Data Action Plan and the Rail Sector Deal.