Northern Rail Industry Leaders

Providing a platform for progress

As the traditional heart of the rail industry, the North has always been central to the success of British business. The future also holds huge potential for the region, with significant investment being delivered through rail projects like HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Northern Rail Industry Leaders (NRIL) brings together businesses to help develop and support the rail industry in the region. By providing leadership and industry expertise, the group is defining, shaping and delivering a journey of success for the North.

NRIL consists of an East and West contingent, which in total represent around 40 organisations in the rail industry. By working with Transport for the North (TfN), the sub national transport body, NRIL is looking to influence rail policy across the region.

“Delivering British Railways using Northern Skills, Innovation and Talent”
Mission Statement


Building the North's New Railways

A White Paper on how rail businesses can deliver even more from the North's rail investment plans.

Following the re-launch of NRIL in March 2018, the group held a series of workshops around the region to engage with suppliers and stakeholders and establish their views on the implications for the local supply chain of the regional rail investment programme.

This resulting report details the  capabilities of the North’s rail supply base before looking at what more can be achieved with the right policy environment, through collaboration with TfN, Network Rail, HS2 Ltd, the  Government and local decision makers.

The report begins with an overview of the Northern supply chain’s capabilities before looking at the key themes where the supply chain can add further value to TfN’s investment plans.

First, the report covers the future support for TfN required to deliver these benefits. It identifies the opportunities to accelerate TfN’s programme by Delivering Value through the supply chain, by giving suppliers the confidence to invest in the local people, plant and processes, which will not only reduce unit costs but create a legacy capability in the region. The report then moves onto the areas of De-carbonisation (including further electrification and new self-powered zero carbon trains) and Digitalisation, including cab signalling and traffic management, which will ensure a modern ‘fit for the future’ network. Then the report looks to identify the key enablers in People and Skills and Innovation.

Read the Report

The Executive

NRIL's Executive lead on setting the direction and strategy of the group, as well as progressing its key workstreams. The Executive includes:

  • Justin Moss, Co-Chair;
  • Mike Hulme, Co-Chair;
  • Julie Carrier, Decarbonisation Workstream;
  • Tracey Barber, Skills and People Workstream;
  • David Taylor and Rhianne Evans, Innovation Workstream;
  • Ken Kyle, Digitalisation and Delivering Value Workstream;
  • David Clarke, Max Sugarman, Alexis King, RIA & Secretariat.