Meet Our Board of Directors
Working alongside our Chief Executive Carl Williams, the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board of Directors have been carefully selected to bring a broad range of skills and experience to the organisation. Its non-executive board members are dedicated to the continuous improvement of safety standards as light rail becomes an increasingly important solution to the UK’s urban transport challenges. You can find out more about them below.
George Lowder
Chair
As the Chair of Transform Scotland and previously the Chief Executive of Transport for Edinburgh (TfE) for over 8 years, George Lowder has been instrumental in the development and delivery of a successful integrated transport network, including the Edinburgh’s acclaimed tramway.
He is also Vice President of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, Chairs the Boards of two Scottish charities, and is a Trustee of a third and previously Chair of the UKTram Board for over 3 years.
Sarah Higgins
Board Member
Sarah Higgins is an experienced passenger rail operator who is currently Operations Director at Transport for Wales, where she is responsible for introducing the South Wales class 398 tram train.
Prior to working in operations, Sarah spent almost a decade as a civil servant, specialising in rail commercial activities including alliancing and franchising policy as well as a variety of other roles.
Danny Vaughan
Board Member
The Head of Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester, Danny Vaughan has more than 20 years experience in light rail and expertise in capital programme management, franchising, procurement, operations, asset management, contract and commercial management.
Martin Fleetwood
Board Member
A consultant at Addleshaw Goddard for over 20 years, Martin has advised on a variety of transport-related projects, from transport policy and strategy, through advising service operators and manufacturers of equipment, to financiers and lessors of transport assets.
Martin has served previously on the board of UKTram and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport and the author of numerous articles on rail issues and tram schemes.
Damien Chabas
Board Member
Damien has been the Managing Director for KeolisAmey Metrolink (KAM) since July 2023 – KAM operates and maintains the Metrolink network in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester, the UK largest light rail network. Previously Damien held the position of Director of Service Delivery as well as Director of Customer Experience and Growth in KAM.
Prior to joining KAM in 2019, Damien worked at Yarra Trams (KeolisDowner) in Melbourne, Australia, across senior positions in business strategy, operations and customer services. In addition to his 15+ years’ experience internationally in Mass Transit, Damien holds master’s degrees in international business and business management.
Colin Kerr
Board Member
A cross-discipline engineer with over 40 years’ experience, Colin Kerr has worked in the light rail sector for nearly two decades and currently leads the Edinburgh Trams safety & projects team.
Ian Law
Board Member
Currently responsible for business transformation at South Yorkshire Supertram, Ian led the operator’s finance team through the successful transition into local authority control.
Previously, he has worked for Manchester Metrolink, managing the business through significant change.
More recently, he developed the financial model underpinning the successful business case for the Newhaven extension in Edinburgh and worked with West Midlands Metro on a commercial strategy when operations returned to public ownership.
Mark Davis
Board Member
The General Manager of London Trams, Mark Davis, brings wide-ranging experience to the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board having worked in the sector for the past 14 years.
Clive Pennington
Board Member
The Technical Director for Light Rail at Amey, Clive Pennington is a Chartered Electrical Engineer and has worked in the light rail sector for almost 20 years.