RDG Board
and its members

• Our Board

• Strategic Boards

Who Makes Up the RDG Board?

• 

  Jeremy Westlake

  Chief Executive, Network Rail and Deputy Chair of the RDG

  Jeremy Westlake has served as Chief Financial Officer at Network Rail since 2016. Prior to this, he held senior finance, operational and supply chain roles over 14 years at Rolls-Royce, based in both the UK and the United States. In 2013, he joined Alstom Transport as SVP Finance, where he played a key role in driving international growth through acquisitions and operational improvements.

• 

  Dominic Booth

  Chief Executive Officer, Transport UK Group

  Dominic has a 36 year career in UK public transport, spanning both public and private sector periods. During his career, Dominic has been Managing Director of 6 UK rail companies and has been Chairman of 12 UK TOCs. Prior to forming Transport UK Group, Dominic worked for NS, British Rail, Connex, Prism Rail and National Express.

• 

  Robin Gisby

  Chairman, London North Eastern Railway and Chief Executive of DfT OLR Holdings Ltd

  As Managing Director, Network Operations, Robin was a member of the main Board of Network Rail until February 2015. He co-chaired the initial alliance with South West Trains and was also a member of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Transport Board.
• 

  Jake Kelly

  Managing Director, North West and Central Region, Network Rail

  Jake has worked in the rail industry for many years and held numerous operational, commercial, strategic and project delivery roles – in both the public and private sectors.

  He joined Network Rail in October 2019 as Passenger Director and before that, he was the managing director of East Midlands Trains.

• 

  Steve Montgomery

  Managing Director, First Rail

  Steve's career in the railway industry spans almost 30 years, starting his working life with British Rail. He held various senior posts before becoming Operations and Safety Director at ScotRail, coinciding with FirstGroup taking over the franchise in 2004. He was appointed Managing Director of First ScotRail in 2009.

  Under his leadership, First ScotRail achieved the highest ever levels of customer satisfaction and punctuality in the franchise's history.

• 

  Ernesto Sicilia

  Chairman and Managing Director, Trenitalia UK

  Ernesto has been Managing Director of Trenitalia UK Ltd since October 2016, and led the company’s entry into the UK rail market when it acquired Essex train operator c2c in February 2017.

  Ernesto has worked for Ferrovie dello Stato Group, owning group of Trenitalia, since 2001 in a variety of strategy roles, including five years as the business’s Chief Strategy Officer. He has also been on the board of directors of Thello, Trenitalia’s French‐Italian operation, since the company’s inception in 2011.

• 

  Jacqueline Starr

  Executive Chair and CEO, RDG

  Jacqueline’s career spans over 30 years and she has experience in Banking (Lloyds & Barclays), Telecoms (Orange, France Telecom & O2) and rail. Jacqueline has majored in Customer Experience and through a variety of roles, sought to ensure organisations and industries put the customer at the very heart of what they do.

  She joined the rail industry in 2015 as Managing Director of Customer Experience before progressing to Chief Operating Officer. She was appointed Chief Executive of RDG in December 2020.

• 

  Patrick Verwer

  Group Rail Chief Executive, GO AHEAD

  Patrick oversees UK rail strategy for Go-Ahead Group, alongside his role as Chief Executive Officer of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Britain’s largest rail network.

  Before taking up the position of CEO at GTR in July 2018, Patrick was Managing Director of London Midland between January 2012 and December 2017. Before that he worked in the transport industry in the UK and Europe, specialising in rail and airport services. He first came to the UK in 2003 as Managing Director of Merseyrail. Born and educated in the Netherlands, Patrick started his career in the Rotterdam Police Force rising to senior officer level.

• 

  Peter Strachan

  Chairman: UK Rail, Serco

  Before joining UK Rail, Peter was the Managing Director of Serco Caledonian Sleeper, following an extensive career in rail and transport, including managing a number of UK train operating companies, Network Rail routes and in the Department for Transport.

  In Australia, Peter led train and tram businesses in Melbourne, bus companies in Perth and Brisbane, and was the Chief Executive of TransLink, the public transport authority in Queensland.

• 

  Graham Cross

  Commercial Director, MTR Corporation (UK)

  Graham is Commercial Director MTR Corporation (UK) Ltd, which operates the Elizabeth line.

  Graham has over 25 years experience in the UK rail industry, with a broad career spent working in infrastructure, the civil service, and at Board level in private sector train operating companies, consultancy and concessions. He has always aimed to develop and improve passenger rail services to the benefit of customers.

Strategic Boards

Senior Subcommittees

Meet our executive team

• 

  Jacqueline Starr

  Executive Chair and CEO

  Jacqueline Starr has been CEO of RDG since 2020 and became Executive Chair in December 2024. She leads the organisation on behalf of its members, focusing on making the railway simpler and and supporting the move towards Great British Railways. A genuine customer champion, she’s spent nine years working in rail and previously held roles including COO and MD of Customer at RDG. Before joining the industry, she led major customer experience teams at Barclays, O2 UK and Orange France. She’s also Chair of LiveWest and a Non-Executive Director at the Institute of Customer Service.
• 

  Nicole Jennings

  Chief Delivery Officer

  Nicole is the Chief Delivery Officer at Rail Delivery group, accountable for delivery of strategic programme and digital delivery. Prior to joining RDG in 2024 Nicole worked in Operations, Service, change and Transformation in the Telecommunications industry, holding senior roles in Virgin Media, Capita and Talk Talk, where she was a member of the executive team.
• 

  Daniel Mann

  Director of Industry Operations

  Dan joined Railtrack’s graduate programme in 2001, which sparked his passion for rail. After roles as a signaller and in operational management across Railtrack, Network Rail and train operators, he moved to RDG, where he’s now Director of Industry Operations. His work spans train performance, security, operations, engineering, ETCS deployment and long-term people strategy, including schemes like the Railway Engineering Graduate Scheme and the Train Driver Academy. He’s also part of RDG’s Executive Team and chairs several industry committees and programmes.
• 

  Ola Ogun

  Chief Financial Officer

• 

  Stewart Fox-Mills

  Fares, Ticketing and Retail Director

  Stewart is Director of the Fares, Ticketing and Retail Programme, leading work across Great Britain to reform fares, simplify ticketing and expand digital and tap-in tap-out payment options, helping lay the groundwork for Great British Railways. He’s a transformational commercial leader with experience shaping marketing, digital, product and customer strategies across media, retail, financial services, tech and rail, including as Group Commercial Director at Abellio.