Olivier Piron works at the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) since 2005 and is currently the Head of the Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock Unit. His Unit is in charge of the development of the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and the assessment of the National Technical Rules (NTRs) aiming at enhancing the level of interoperability on the Union railway system and by this way contributing to an increased competitiveness of the rail and to the seamless cross-border traffic in the EU.

1. Career to date

Head of Unit Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock, ERA since Dec 2020

Head of Unit Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock, a.i., ERA Jul 2019 – Nov 2020

Team Leader Fixed Installations and Rolling Stock, ERA Nov 2018 – Jun 2019

Head of Sector Rolling Stock, ERA Aug 2017 – Nov 2018

Quality Officer, ERA May 2012- Aug 2017

Head of the coordination sector - Interoperability Unit, ERA Aug 2008 – Apr 2012

Project Officer – Interoperability Unit, ERA Jun 2005 - Jul 2008

Project Manager – On Track Machines (OTMs) vehicle purchasing, Infrabel Jan 1996 – May 2005

Project Manager Operational scheduling of train drivers and vehicles, SNCB Oct 1993 – Dec 1995

2. Education

Mechanical Engineer, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1992

Since 2017 with CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd

Head of R&D center,  CRRC ZELC Verkehrsstechnik GmbH

8 years experience in R&D of new energy locomotives, successfully developed locomotives with power supply from on-board Li-ion battery system, hydrogen fuel cell system, et al

Member of IEC/TC 9 working gruop

PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering, and bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineer from Tsinghua University

Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain is Specification Manager at Transport for the North, with a passion for transport transformation, sustainability, and inclusion. She works to make rail better for customers across the North; safer, accessible, and more enjoyable. Daisy is also the Chairperson of the Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership, supporting community access to local railways.

I was born in Edinburgh 1962 and have always lived in Scotland.

I was educated at the local Grammar School and left in 1978 when I was 16 with seven “O” levels, average qualifications at the time.

I started work on the railways as a mechanical apprentice at the Craigentinny Maintenance Depot in Edinburgh in 1978.  This four year apprenticeship was intensive, broad based and included college studies in Mechanical and Production Engineering to HNC level.

I have worked on all aspects of Rolling Stock maintenance on the depot as a fitter, was further trained to carry out electrical work. I progressed through the supervisory grades to Senior Shift Supervisor.  Through this I developed an in depth knowledge of safety critical systems.  I have also had specialist training in Non-Destructive testing, and have gained an in-depth knowledge of wheels bogies and running gear.

I have had 14 years experience as a Rolling Stock Inspector carrying out in-service inspection, fault diagnosis and repairs on high speed diesel and electric trains.

I have an extensive knowledge of the environment that Rolling Stock has to operate and how it performs in reality at speeds in service up to 125 mph.  This included understanding what makes them reliable and what can be done to still operate when parts of systems are defective or have been badly damaged or isolated.

Due to time limitations, rapid decision making was necessary and it was also necessary to work within what limited resources were available in isolated locations such as tools, and materials.

I have undertaken further academic education in addition to normal work through the Open University and gained a BSc (Hons) degree and Diplomas in Systems Practice, Pollution Control and Professional Management. I am also an Incorporated Engineer IEng, a member of the IET and Associate Member of the IMechE.

I was the project engineer for life extension work and reliability improvements to the East Coast Inter-City 125 High Speed Train fleet. This included ; Re-painting in, complete new vehicle interiors, laminated glass, MTU engines, new cooling systems, upgraded electronic control, reliability modifications, production of enhanced component overhaul specifications for rotating machines and bogies.

I am currently responsible for Assurance and Engineering Standards including the production and control of Maintenance, Quality and Policy documentation relating to the London North Eastern 225 Electric fleet and Assurance of the new Hitachi Class 800 fleet. I am an IRCA registered Lead auditor for both ISO9001 and ISO14001.  I represent London North Eastern Railway on various Rail Industry forums through both the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and Rail Delivery Group (RDG). These include; fire, vehicle maintenance, pantographs, energy, wheelsets, axle bearings and standards. I am chair of the BSI RAE3/-/2 committee for Roller Bearings and Lubricants.

I am passionate about the Assurance, safe design, reliability, cost effective maintenance, effective management of Engineering change, vehicle configuration and operation of trains.

Patrick Rhys Atack is the Editor on GlobalData's Transport desk, managing the Ship Technology, Airport Technology, and Railway Technology sites. Over the past decade he's worked at international TV stations and reported from across Europe on the day's biggest stories, as well as working for some of London's most important daily newspapers. His specialist reporting started in the international education field, before moving to business and the markets, and now transport.

Aurelio Rojo, PhD Industrial Engineer, has developed his professional career in both, RAILWAYS and SAFETY&SECURITY sectors, particularly in Metro of Madrid, where his filed of expertise became related to fire protection and safety management aspects. As Director of Operations of Metro Madrid, he was responsible for the development of the Safety, Fire Protection and Security Programs, between 1994-2007, in a network of 300 km and 350 stations, mostly underground. As General Secretary of Alamys (Latin-American Metropolitan Railways Association) between 2001 and 2014 (Now honorary member) coordinated many safety and security Public Transport System Working Groups and Seminars.
Between 2010 and 2022 he has been President of APICI, Spanish Fire Protection Engineers Association and currently he is Honorary President of APICI
Aurelio Rojo has vast experience in the academic and research world .He has been Co-Director of the Masters in Fire Protection Engineering and professor on the Railway Masters at the School of Engineering of the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid, Spain, where he has had the opportunity to deal with complex conceptual models that need to be contemplated both in performance base fire engineering matters and in the design and operation of metro systems with high levels of safety and security.”

BSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, EurChem, CEng, FIFireE Chairman, FPRS, February 2021

Dr. Cash is an experienced Fire, Safety and Emergency Planning professional with considerable exposure to a wide range of safety regulatory activities in the rail, aviation, oil & petrochemical, marine and military sectors. Based in the United Kingdom, Tony is a Chartered Fire Engineer accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers and a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers, a Chartered European Chemist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He’s a distinguished Member of the British Standards Institute, International President of the Rail Industry Fire Association (RIFA) and Vice-President of the London Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE). United Kingdom Expert on the European Standard CEN/TC 256/WG 1, Railway Applications (Fire Protection) working group. Been practicing fire protection engineering for over 35 years and has specialised in the fire safe design of very complicated and unusual projects in a wide range of private and public sectors.Tony has previously been the Chartered Fire Engineer at Heathrow Airport Limited and before joining Heathrow, Tony worked for Bombardier Transportation, Trenton Fire, London Underground (LU), Transport for London (TfL), the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority and Angus Fire Ltd.
He earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Chemistry from the University of London in 1983 and earned a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry (Ph.D.) from the University of Leeds in 1987. He is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and a Chartered European Chemist (EurChem). Dr. Cash is also a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (FIFireE), and a Chartered Fire Engineer. Tony has been involved in fire safety engineering since 1983 and first became a Chartered Practitioner in 1987. Tony has experience of working in the UK, USA, Canada, the Far East, the British Overseas Territories, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Europe, Cyprus and South Africa. Throughout his broad & varied career, Tony has participated on a number of committees advising on new guidance documents and proposed legislation including British Standards, NFPA, ICAO, UK CAA, EASA and the Institution of Fire Engineers Special Interest Groups. In addition, he has set and marked exams for his professional bodies, the UK CAA and overseas aviation agencies on fire safety & emergency planning, human factors in engineering and the Carriage Packaging and Labelling of Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Materials. Tony regularly speaks on the subject of rail rolling stock and tunnel fire safety at international conferences. He has chaired numerous annual conferences on the Fire Protection of Rolling Stock and is looking forward to chairing the 18th annual conference back in Berlin.

Esther Marfo, is a Project Leader within the Health Equity and Population Sciences department at Genentech. With over 15 years’ experience in the industry, Esther has predominantly worked in clinical trial management and data management roles across Europe, North America and South Africa. Her passion for ensuring that clinical trials are reflective of our society drove her to her most recent work in Health Equity, where she works with a group of committed and passionate individuals to successfully develop and implement scalable and sustainable strategic interventions for the recruitment of underrepresented patient populations.

Liam is a Project Officer at Transport Canada’s Innovation Centre, Rail and Aviation Research, Development, and Deployment (RD&D) group. Liam manages projects related to the development and deployment of clean rail technologies, as well as those aimed at addressing the impacts of climate change in the railway environment.
On the clean side, Liam has been supporting the development of hydrogen and battery locomotive codes and standards in North America. To inform codes and standards development, Liam has been working with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to conduct risk assessments [1],[2],[3],[4] for hydrogen and battery powered locomotives. These risk assessments involved a review of active hydrogen deployments, international codes, and international standards to identify failure modes in locomotive systems.
On the climate change adaptation side, Liam has supported projects aimed at reducing wildfire risk impacts to railways in Canada, including reviewing some of the common elements of railway operations that are susceptible to causing sparks and fires [5]. Additionally, Liam manages a railway fire risk task team which provides an open forum for government to communicate with North American railway companies to share updates from their current and planned wildfire mitigation projects, discuss railway fire management plans, and identify opportunities for collaboration.