TRESPAD Conference 2025

Johnny joined RSSB in May 2018 as Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for the delivery elements of the organisation namely; standards, system safety and health, R&D, Sustainable Development and the Business Management office. He was formally the Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways and Deputy Director Railway Safety at the Office of Rail and Road having joined the rail industry in October 2015. At ORR he had responsibility for health and safety regulation of the mainline rail network, all operating companies (both train and freight), light rail, metros (including TfL) and heritage.

Before joining rail, he served for 34 years in the British Army as an infantry soldier, undertaking operational tours in Northern Ireland, Southern Arabia, the Balkans and Iraq. In his final appointment as Chief Environmental and Safety officer for the army he was responsible to the head of the army for all health and safety matters, and environmental protection.

Johnny has an MBA from the Open University, a MSc in Design of Information Systems from Cranfield University and is a Graduate IOSH. He was appointed OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2005.

Deputy Director System Safety & Health at RSSB, Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network 

Ann is the Deputy Director for RSSBs System Safety and Health Directorate. She leads a mixed disciplined department that is responsible for the delivery of the GB Rail Industry Health and Safety Strategy.
Ann is a safety professional of over twenty-five years’ experience, mostly rail related. She joined RSSB in 2000 as a Human Factors Specialist, before moving to head up the HF department which she built up to a total of 14 professionals with an international reputation. She spent the early part of her career at Cranfield University as a Researcher undertaking aviation safety research for the UK and American Aviation Authorities and Shell.
Ann’s academic background is in Psychology (BA from Coventry) and Applied Psychology (MSc and PhD from Cranfield).

Ann has been involved in UIC safety issues for over 20 years. She began as a member of the Human and Organisational Factors Working Group (HOFWG), most recently as Vice-Chair.
Then, in June 2021, she took over the Chair position of the UIC TreSP network.

From September 1988 started her career in exporting companies.

From 1992 at UIC.

From 2009-today: Senior Advisor, Safety and Interoperability: in charge of level crossing safety,

trespass and suicide prevention issues at the UIC Safety Unit.

Coordinator of

• Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
• Trespass and Suicide Prevention Network (TreSP-Network)

Project Manager of

• International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD)
• International Trespass Awareness Day (TRESPAD)

Nicola has over 10 years experience at Transport for London. Her team are responsible for the development of operational policy, based on data, research and insight. One of the areas which Nicola leads is Safeguarding, of which Suicide Prevention is an important area of focus.

Danielle Eon is an Engineering Psychologist in the Human Factors Division at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she has worked to help improve safety across transportation modes for 20 years.

She has been a member of the trespass and suicide prevention research team since 2014 where she closely collaborates with her team, FRA, rail carriers, and other stakeholders to improve our understanding of what may be done to help reduce the frequency of these events and mitigate their impact on rail workers and communities.

When she is not conducting research at Volpe, Danielle is also a practicing mental health clinician.  She brings her human factors and clinical mental health expertise to several national and international working groups dedicated to both suicide and trespass prevention.

Louise McNally joined Network Rail in January 2015 and has worked in public safety related roles throughout that time. As Suicide & Trespass Prevention Lead for Network Rail, she is responsible for strategy and policy in this area and leads national workstreams on, education, awareness, technology improvement and other interventions. Louise works in partnership with the wider rail industry, British Transport Police, local and national government. public health agencies, national charities and a range of other partners to reduce the risk of trespass and vulnerable presentations on Suicide and Trespass Prevention Lead.

Kurt Topel is an independent rail safety researcher and advocate from the United States. Following his retirement from a career in Finance and Marketing with a Fortune 500 financial services company, Kurt became engaged in rail safety due to a personal tragedy. He champions efforts to address railroad trespassing and suicide prevention, leveraging a data-driven approach to underscore the significance of these issues. Kurt has authored numerous articles and papers on rail trespassing and suicide, exploring potential measures for preventing these tragic occurrences.

Dr Laura Joyner is a Research Fellow in Suicide Prevention Research at Middlesex University, London. She currently works on the QUESST project; a body of work seeking to understand the effectiveness of using smart surveillance technologies to prevent suicides at high-risk locations, including the UK railways. Laura has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Westminster and is broadly interested in understanding how technology and social groups influence our judgements and behaviour.

Dr Bethany Cliffe is a research fellow at the University of Westminster, UK. Her research interests are self-harm, suicide prevention and the role technology can play in mental health. She is currently working on a project funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research evaluating the use of smart surveillance technology for suicide prevention in public places.

Head of Department, DSB – Danish State Railways, Denmark and UIC Vice-Chair of the UIC TreSP-Network

With a background within Air Traffic Control and Air Traffic Management Nils la Cour joined Danish State Railways in 2015. Nils holds a university degree as Master of Public Administration and is second to DSB’s Director of Safety. On a daily basis Nils is responsible for the function and continuous improvement of DSB’s Management System including safety and risk management, safety auditing, investigations and management reporting.
Nils is also Vice Chair of the UIC Tresp-Network (on trespass and suicide prevention issues).

Stuart Heaton, Managing Director of Learn Live, brings over a decade of experience in creating interactive online broadcasts that connect young people with employers. A key focus of his work is the Rail Safe Friendly programme, which he founded to promote rail safety education to students and communities. With a strong background in both media and education, Stuart is committed to developing impactful solutions that bridge the gap between education and the business sector.

I have been a project manager for over 5 years at Infrabel. Initially, I was responsible for reorganizing construction site communications and developing campaigns on various topics, such as employer branding and safety. Currently, I primarily focus on railway safety in various forms. I design and implement local and national awareness campaigns on railway safety, targeting both the general public and specific audiences. Additionally, I create and facilitate educational programs for young people, targeting schools and youth organizations.

Gaëtan has been working for Infrabel in the safety department for 17 years now. He is responsible for a team of 7 people. He has been responsible for managing risk analyses in connection with the implementation of new technologies on the network (like ETCS). He is currently responsible for the safety monitoring and managing action plans relating to third-party issues (suicide / trespassing / level crossing).

Katy has a wealth of experience directing behaviour change campaigns as an account director at creative agency, Storycatchers, who have worked with Network Rail on their anti-trespass campaigns since 2019. 

Donna Mitchell has worked in the national media team at Network Rail since 2014. She has worked across all their rail safety campaigns and been the organisation’s lead for the You vs Train campaign, which is delivered in partnership with the British Transport Police, since 2019.  Donna has created numerous anti-trespass behaviour change initiatives and campaigns including the award-winning, Harrison’s Story.

Prior to joining Network Rail, Donna held public relations roles across a range of industries including advertising regulation and in the legal and education sectors.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

Allan’s career started as a safety regulator with experience in many different industries. In 2000 he joined the HM Railway Inspectorate, later becoming HM Deputy Chief Inspector of the safety and economic regulator, the Office of Rail Regulation. Allan joined Network Rail in 2012 to create the company safety strategy and vision of Everyone Home Safe Every Day, later leading the company’s work in all aspects of passenger and public safety; overseeing Network Rail’s relationship with the National Safety Authority (ORR) and National Investigation Body (RAIB) and leading industry investigation into the most serious safety events on the British network.

He semi-retired in 2022, now providing independent support and advice to various transport sector businesses. He remains vice chair of the Britain’s railway industry System Safety Risk Group, chair of UIC’s Global Level Crossing Network and a member of the UIC Safety Platform.

His rail experience spans all aspects of the British industry including infrastructure management, operators, major projects, light rail and the heritage sector, as well as work with oversees regulators and railway companies. But he also draws on his experience with many other industries, including his roots in agriculture.

From September 1988 started her career in exporting companies.

From 1992 at UIC.

From 2009-today: Senior Advisor, Safety and Interoperability: in charge of level crossing safety,

trespass and suicide prevention issues at the UIC Safety Unit.

Coordinator of

• Global Level Crossing Network (GLCN)
• Trespass and Suicide Prevention Network (TreSP-Network)

Project Manager of

• International Level Crossing Awareness Day (ILCAD)
• International Trespass Awareness Day (TRESPAD)

Elise GRISON completed a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the Université Sorbonne Paris Cité and IFSTTAR in 2015. Her work has mainly focused on spatial cognition, especially wayfinding processes and route choice. Since she joined the Experience, Behaviour & Cognition program at SNCF in 2020, she developed a wide variety of research projects. In the security field she works on improving security by understanding cognition, developing new safety system and test their efficiency on human behaviour.

Jodie is a Certified Business Psychologist specialising in Human Factors, Organisational Learning , and Investigations. Jodie has worked for more than 20 years in highly regulated and safety critical environments including Aviation, Nuclear and Rail.

Dr. Starr Kidda works for the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Starr is the Human Factors Division Chief in FRA’s Office of Research, Development and Technology. Starr has supported railroad safety research at FRA for 10 years. Her team conducts research related to human performance issues in railroading, and also grade crossing safety and trespass prevention. Starr has a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Georgia.

Keatlegile Godwill Malete is a seasoned Communication Generalist who holds a Masters Degree in Communication Science. This is complemented by eighteen years of experience in the Communications Sector, having joined the Railway Safety Regulator in 2007.

Part of his illustrious career includes establishing the Provincial Level Crossing Technical Committees in 2014. The committees consisted of provincial departments of transport; municipalities; transport entities; rail operators and discussed joint responsibilities on mitigating risks at hotspot level crossings.

Godwill currently occupies the role of Senior Manager: Stakeholder Relations and his role includes conducting education and awareness on railway safety.

Ms. Vhutshilo Rambevha is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) with 11 years of experience in railway transportation. She obtained her Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria. Her first employment was at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) as an Engineer in Training and became a certified engineer while still at TFR. She worked at Transnet for 8 years conducting and managing complex railway engineering projects, as well as holding the role of a Depot Engineer with the responsibility of effectively executing railway infrastructure maintenance for all engineering disciplines to ensure a safe and reliable rail network for safe passage of freight trains. She acquired her Postgrad Diploma in Management Practice with Henley Business School and obtained her Senior Leadership Development programme with Wits Business School.

She assumed her current role at the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) in 2021 as Technical Specialist Level Crossings. Her roles include conducting railway-related research, advisory services, and project management in level crossings life cycle phases. She is busy with Bachelor of Engineering Honours in Transportation Engineering (Civil) specialising in railway transportation with the University of Pretoria, where her civil research will be about level crossings.

“I have been involved in monitoring and analysis of accidents and incidents since 2001.

I started my career in the FS group in particular in RFI (Infrastructure manager) and then continued it at the Italian NSA (ANSF then ANSFISA) where I have been working since its establishment (2007) .

Head of the” monitoring and events analysis” office, which is part of the “Supervision and controls” area of railway directorate of ANSFISA, since 2014.

One of the recent activities assigned to me is the coordination, for the railway aspects, of the control and inspection activities at level crossings”

“I have been involved in monitoring and analysis of accidents and incidents since 2001.

I started my career in the FS group in particular in RFI (Infrastructure manager) and then continued it at the Italian NSA (ANSF then ANSFISA) where I have been working since its establishment (2007) .

Head of the” monitoring and events analysis” office, which is part of the “Supervision and controls” area of railway directorate of ANSFISA, since 2014.

One of the recent activities assigned to me is the coordination, for the railway aspects, of the control and inspection activities at level crossings”

Steve has led our Rail specialism for the past 25 years from its inception, both in the UK and whilst he worked for RSA in the Netherlands. He combines his lifelong passion for the industry with his deep sector knowledge and in this time, he has developed a significant book of rail business and overseen the growth of our sector expertise worldwide to one of the leading Rail Insurers in UK / Europe.

Steve’s role includes setting RSA’s overall strategy for Rail, as well as acting as Account Director for RSA’s major rail customers.

Steve is also Published author in Rail Trade Press: Rail Magazine, Rail Review and Rail Professional, as well as a member of the Rail Review Board in the Uk

In previous years Steve has spoken at Previous ILCAD seminars, as well as events run by the National Skills Academy for rail and will be speaking at this years Rail Live event in Madrid in November

Also has been involved in the heritage rail sector for 40+ years, taking on roles such as station master, senior booking office clerk, guard, acting signalman and operating superintendent.

Rachel Maleh is Executive Director of Operation Lifesaver, Inc., (OLI) the national, nonprofit rail safety education organization based in Washington, D.C. OLI is a nationally recognized leader of rail safety education whose goal is ending collisions, deaths and injuries on and around railroad tracks and trains. Maleh has over 30 years’ experience in nonprofit management, communications, marketing, fundraising, organizational development, and leadership transition planning.
She was appointed in December 2022 by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to be a member of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Transit Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS), which provides information, advice, and recommendations on transit safety to the U.S. Transportation Secretary and FTA Administrator.
Prior to joining Operation Lifesaver, Inc., Maleh held several senior level positions at national nonprofits. Her expertise includes communications, marketing, and fundraising.
Maleh has advanced degrees both in International Relations and International Communications from Boston University as well as a Master of Science in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and French from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Wende Corcoran is Vice President of Operation Lifesaver, Inc., the national, nonprofit rail safety education organization based in Washington, DC. Corcoran has over 24 years’ experience in educational materials development, nonprofit operations and administration. She manages the organization’s budget and relationships with federal grant partners, and oversees training, educational materials and tools. Corcoran has been with OLI since June of 1999 and has developed instructional programs and award-winning eLearning programs for the public. Before joining Operation Lifesaver, Corcoran was an educational resource specialist for gifted and talented students in Loudoun County, Virginia public schools, where she managed as many as 91 teachers and 2,100 students in a specialized educational program. Corcoran holds a master’s degree in Curriculum Development and Training from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia and a B.S. in Education from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Since 2007, I have been working for Infrabel. First in internal communication and later as a communication specialist in team Safety. As communication business partner, I support our Safety Competence centre for all their communication questions, both for internal and external awareness-raising. In terms of external campaigns, we mainly work around the themes of trespassing and safety at level crossings. For this, we have developed projects for schools, campaigns for the general public and more targeted campaigns for specific target audiences.

Vincent Godeau is advisor in safety management by Infrabel since 2009. After working as a railway accident investigator, he specializes in safety policy for LC. He develops and manages the LC actions plan for which the goal is to improve the safety at LC by the implementation of new infrastructural measures.

IDS, a company belonging to Fincantieri NexTech, is an engineering and systems technologies company providing research, innovation and products in Electromagnetic Engineering, Satellite Communications, Robotics & Unmanned Systems and Radar fields for civil and defense applications. Since 1980 IDS has specialized in providing consulting services for high-tech engineering projects and in developing integrated solutions.

IDS has a strong customer focus and is committed to meeting customer requirements with high quality innovative solutions.

IDS is an international company with around 250 professional employees worldwide who are mostly graduated in electronic, telecommunications and aerospace engineering.

IDS’s headquarters are in Pisa, Italy with several offices in the Country and has a strong international attitude with four subsidiary companies located in UK, Australia, Canada and South Korea.

The international presence helps IDS to be closer to the clients and to provide better, localized, services and support.

Ingegneria dei Sistemi (Italy)

We have a simple mantra: ‘We draw what we can build. We can build what we draw.’ We are passionate engineers, delivering solutions for Engineers and their communities. This applies to infrastructure related sectors – from rail to highways; from major projects to client-specific engineering challenges, where safe access and fully-compliant safety are paramount.

We inspire and are inspired by safe and sustainable engineering. Our mission is to keep your network moving, whilst making the world a safer place.

Kite Projects (UK)

BODAN is a level crossing system that is used for all types of rail & sleepers, characterized by high quality & a long life time in different road stresses & climate conditions.

Gmundener Fertigteile – BODAN (Austria)

Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, generative AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.1 billion.

Capgemini (France)

Arentis Ltd. is a dynamic telecommunications company committed to delivering innovative solutions that keep businesses connected. Founded in 2017, they specialize in cutting-edge telecom services that enhance communication and drive efficiency. With a customer-centric approach, they strive to provide reliable, high-quality technology tailored to modern business needs.

Arentis Ltd. (UK)

The Hirsch product range offers high-security solutions for Physical Access Control, Video, Analytics, and Security Monitoring, Command & Control. When combined with Harper Chalice’s National Protective Security Authority approved Perimeter Intrusion Detection Solutions, they provide the UK’s most comprehensive physical security solutions.

Additionally, Hirsch solutions in the UK are enhanced by the TDSi product range, which offers smart, scalable, and fully integrated access control systems.

HIRSCH (UK)