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PEOPLE
Gareth Dennis has been appointed as a Principal Engineer at SYSTRA UK & Ireland. He discusses the importance of strengthening the link between the physical railway and what it actually delivers
“The time is now for engineers to find our voice”
Image: SYSTRA
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oday is a time of contradictions for the UK rail industry according to engineer and writer Gareth Dennis. You’ll find unanimous agreement from frontline staff to those steering the industry that it is in crisis mode. However, he explains that we should also see this as a time for great optimism. “Firstly, demand for rail services, despite strikes, disruption and reduced timetables, is enormous,” he said. “Ridership continues to climb, with overall numbers now well above pre-COVD levels, even if patterns have shifted. “Secondly, staff on the front line of the railway
continue to deliver services despite increasingly difficult conditions. Those running trains or maintaining infrastructure are doing so despite the leadership challenges facing the industry. “Thirdly, the scale of public engagement with the ticket offices consultation (750,000 people are estimated to have responded) shows how passionately people care about and want to protect their rail services.” This fuels Gareth’s optimism about the future of the rail industry and its importance when it comes to the environment. “These factors should be seen as lining us up
February 2024
well for when rail’s role in the future of mobility is necessarily greatly expanded to tackle the UK’s largest source of GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions: transport,” he said. “When this happens, the railway construction industry needs to be ready to step up quickly. “The 2020s are the decade when humanity builds its required green infrastructure – delay too much longer and we lock in too high a global average temperature increase. That’s the challenge that gets me up in the morning.” Gareth has been involved in railway projects, both big and small strategic programmes in the UK