Railway Electrification - Updating the Network for the 21st Century

Peter Dearman: Engineering Director, Atkins

Peter Dearman is a qualified Electrical and Mechanical Rail Engineer with a background in traction electrification. He began his career at British Rail in 1970 and now has over 40 years of experience in rail engineering and operations. Peter has held some senior and varied roles within British Rail, Railtrack and Network Rail, as well as positions in Atkins, Jarvis and Systra. In his last role at Network Rail, he was Head of Energy, responsible for defining the engineering content and strategic development of the network electrification programme.

Peter Stanton: Technical Committee Member & Independent Engineering Consultant, Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Peter Stanton has had a long involvement in the railway industry, from an engineering apprenticeship leading to a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering; through to many levels of engineering and project management positions, which culminated in his retirement from a senior engineering role at Network Rail. Since then, Peter has utilised that experience as a consultant, working with Network Rail and major infrastructure consultants and contractors. He is very active within the professional institutions and will always ensure he is fully briefed on current standards and processes. He sits on technical committees at both the IMechE and the IET.

Ian Ross: HV Power Manager, Crossrail

Steve Cox: Regional Engineering Manager North, Balfour Beatty Rail Projects

Steve Cox has worked for Balfour Beatty since 1994 and has led electrification engineering on a number of key projects both in the UK and overseas. These projects include the Northend Electrification Project in the USA, Airdrie to Bathgate Project, Rugby Station re-modelling and Trent Valley Four Tracking Projects. Steve’s current primary role is in the Management Team of Balfour Beatty Rail’s Railway Electrification Design Group, which is based in Stephenson House, Liverpool.

Ian Alsop: Programme Manager (Overhead Contact Renewals), Network Rail

Ian Alsop is accountable for 250+ directly employed staff (excluding contingent labour) specialising in OLE installation. He started working in the rail industry in the mid 1980’s with his field of expertise being design and delivery of rail projects.

Philip Doughty: Principal Contact System Engineer, Network Rail Energy

Philip Doughty has key experience in the development and delivery of railway electrification projects, working on major enhancement programmes such as the Great Western Main Line Electrification, North West Electrification, Crossrail and the West Coast Power Supply Upgrade. Whilst working for Network Rail’s Electrification and Plant Design Group he was the lead design engineer for the Series 2 development. Currently, he is the Principal Contact System Engineer for Network Rail Energy Services, part of the Digital Railway Directorate. In this role he provides technical leadership to the UK Master Series development.

John Morris: Technical Director Rail, Parsons Brinckerhoff

John Morris is the Technical Director within the Rail and Transit business of Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), where he is responsible for managing the provision and deployment of the technical capability necessary to deliver the Business Unit’s rail projects. John is a Senior Project Manager within PB and also has responsibility for the assurance issues associated with working in the rail industry. John has extensive experience at PB and previously with British Rail, in rail infrastructure engineering, and has particular expertise in 25kV AC electrification systems.

Gerald Giddins: Principal RAM Consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff

Gerald Giddins is a Principal RAM Consultant within the Specialist Services Group of the Rail and Transit business of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He has undertaken detailed design of electronic systems, design of mechanical sub-sea systems, was the engineering manager of a defence systems manufacturing company, a Director/Consultant of a specialist ARM consultancy and most recently the MD of an offshore Oil and Gas company operating in Aberdeen. Gerald has held the role of Technical Consultant for over 20 years, operating across many industry sectors including transport, defence, aerospace, telecommunications and within the offshore environment.  

Alan Powell: General Manager, Vertex Systems Engineering

Alan Powell started in the rail industry as a track engineer over 25 years ago and has since been involved in various roles covering maintenance, design, installation and assurance on numerous projects, acting as either Project Manager or Engineer. Notable achievements include leading fast track delivery of projects, managing a number of projects or products through the safety assurance process and acting as Engineering Lead. Alan is currently the General Manager for Vertex Systems Engineering, a leading engineering consultancy in the rail sector, providing customers with independent consultancy services.

Andrew Gray: Power Specialist , London Underground

Andrew Gray is a Power Engineer for London Underground (LU) where he is responsible for developing designs for future power upgrades. Currently working on the New Tube for London programme, Andrew is involved in the early development work for the Piccadilly, Central & Bakerloo line upgrades and the reinforcements to the electrification infrastructure required to support a new fleet of trains. Andrew is also leading the introduction of substation inverter technology to the Victoria Line as part of a programme of traction energy efficiency improvements. 

Dr. Stuart Hillmansen: Senior Lecturer - Electrical Energy Systems, University of Birmingham