The Australasian Railway Association has appointed eight rail professionals to its Young Leaders Advisory Board (Y-LAB), after almost 50 applications were made from around Australia and New Zealand.
ARA boss Danny Broad on Thursday said the naming of the new leadership group was an exciting way to engage the future leaders of the rail industry.
“Our industry is changing fast,” Broad said. “We need to engage the future leaders of our industry in key decisions and we are excited to do this through Y-LAB.”
The eight inaugural Y-LAB appointees are:
- Neysa Arland, Control Communications Manager, Transdev Auckland
- Tegan Ball, Program Manager, Principal Workforce Planner, Queensland Rail
- Jessica Ghaleb, Track and Civil Engineer, Jacobs
- Mike Groves, Infrastructure Maintenance Engineer, Network Rail Consulting
- Abdul Jamal, Design Engineer, John Holland Group
- Amy Lezela, Head of Engineering, Rolling Stock, Metro Trains Melbourne
- Liam O’Shannessy, General Manager Maintenance and Operations, Downer (on secondment to Yarra Trams)
- Jamie Ross Smith, Commercial and Compliance Manager, Unipart
In addition, four reserve Y-LAB members were also named:
- Toby Briggs, Operations Manager, Martinus Rail
- Jane Gillespie, Senior Consultant, Arup
- Charlotte Moss, Project Engineer, Bombardier
- Josh Steed, Team Leader Vehicle Services, SNC Lavalin
Broad said the successful applicants “demonstrated a breadth of vision with some innovative yet practical ideas to be progressed through the ARA for our industry”.
“The eight appointed individuals represent the diversity of roles and segments of the rail sector, bringing young engineers, planners, compliance and general managers from rail operators, manufacturers, suppliers, contractors and consultants to the table,” he said.