Conference speakers
Anthony Smith (Founder & Director, Consultancy Consumer Focus)
Anthony Smith is the Founder and Director of Consultancy Consumer Focus. He is also the Chair of Independent Rail Retailers, Heathrow Area Transport Forum, National Transport Awards and the Customer Service Excellence category at the National Rail Awards. Anthony is also a member of the Affinity Water Independent Challenge Group. Anthony was the Chief Executive at Transport Focus. Prior to that he worked at Consumers’ Association, Consumers International, as a solicitor and the regulator of premium rate telephone services.
Marjeta Benčina (Sustainable Mobility Expert, Focus)
Marjeta Benčina is a Sustainable Mobility Expert at Focus Association for Sustainable Development, a Slovenian NGO addressing climate change, energy, transport, global responsibility, and environmental justice. She specializes in sustainable mobility, public transport accessibility and transport poverty, advocating for policies that ensure affordable and inclusive mobility solutions. Marjeta has co-authored several key publications, including the monograph Transport Poverty in Slovenia and an Economic study on the current and future state of transport poverty in Slovenia. She also contributed to the report on good practices for tackling transport poverty in Central and Eastern Europe, emphasizing the need for equitable transport policies. Beyond research, she actively engages in national and international discussions on sustainable mobility and has been involved in projects mitigating air pollution in school environments. Her work highlights the importance of integrating environmental and social dimensions into transport strategies.
Graham Parkhurst (Professor, University of the West of England)
Graham Parkhurst (BA MSc, DPhil, FRGS, FHEA) is Professor of Sustainable Mobility and Director of the Centre for Transport & Society, University of the West of England, Bristol (UK). He has qualifications in psychology, anthropology, and transport geography and has, since 1991, undertaken research on transport and mobility issues. Public transport has been a theme across Graham’s career. His transport planning studies have included the role of buses and park-and-ride schemes in sustainable regional transport planning, and, for his PhD thesis, how the light railway built in Sheffield changed perceptions of accessibility within the city. He has also written on the role of the bus as a backbone to the sustainable urban transport strategy in Oxford and the importance of buses in rural areas. Graham has maintained an interest in matters of transport regulation, including studies of aspects of deregulated bus services, Bus Service Improvement Plans, rail franchising, and the role of the coach. New technologies are a key theme in Graham’s public transport research in recent years, including flexible (demand responsive) bus services, and hybrid bus trials in Bath and Bristol. Most recently led the research team evaluating trial automated bus services in Didcot. Graham is a Director of TravelWatch SouthWest, a Community Interest Company which promotes the interests of public transport users in the SouthWest of England.
Jan Vávra (Expert Passenger Transportation, CIT)
After his master’s studies in the Czech Republic (Masaryk University) and Denmark (Copenhagen University), Jan Vávra gained his competencies in passenger transportation during his 12-year service at Czech Railways, where he was primarily responsible for international conditions of carriage, commercial relations between carriers, and various ticketing issues. Between 2016 and 2019, he also chaired the East-West Steering Committee at UIC. Since 2020, Jan Vávra has been working for the International Rail Transport Committee (CIT) in Bern as an expert in rail passenger transportation focusing on ticketing issues and after-sales matters related to the rail passenger rights.
Ashley Bray (HR Director, Great Western Railway
Ashley Bray is the HR Director at Great Western Railway, bringing over 25 years of rail industry experience and a strong background in operations, learning and development, ED&I (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion), and Human Resources. Since 2018, he has led GWR’s approach to ED&I and the company’s successful journey to becoming a White Ribbon Organisation. Ashley’s leadership is anchored in creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment, ensuring that colleagues, customers, and communities thrive under GWR’s commitment to excellence.
Ralph Gambetta (Smart Ticketing Alliance)
Ralph has a strong involvement in the transportation and mobility sector. During his career he has built up a large experience in digitalisation and smart ticketing. He is in charge of institutional relations and business development at the Brussels based Calypso Networks Association (CNA) where he is also acting as Secretary General of the association. Further he is Chairman of the UITP IT&I Commission and chairs of the Smart Ticketing Alliance. He is also a member of various associations dedicated to sustainable mobility.
Jan Deman (Executive Director, Busworld Foundation & Secretary General, BAAV)
Jan Deman has been working in the bus- and coach sector since 2007. In 2011 he became the Secretary General for the Flemish federation for bus- and coach companies (BAAV). Since 2013 he combines this function with the Executive Directorship of the Busworld Foundation, the world’s largest network in the bus and coach industry. Busworld Foundation is the organizer and owner of the Busword Congresses, the biggest B2B event in the global bus industry. Both positions allow him to experience the daily needs of public and private transport agencies, bus & coach operators, the manufacturers and the passengers- commuters and travelers, worldwide.
Jakop Dalunde (Member of Resenaererna and former MEP)
Jakop has spent almost two decades in public service - as a local politician in Stockholm, as a member of the Swedish parliament and as a member of the European Parliament, where he served for two terms in the transport committee for the Greens. He has also worked as programme director at the green and liberal think tank Fores and as a political advisor in the Prime Ministers Office of Political Coordination in the Swedish Government. He also loves trains.
Josef Schneider (Chairman, EPF)
Josef Schneider is the Chairman of EPF’s management board. He is a daily user of public transport, depending on the necessities train, bus or aviation. He knows the hardships of passengers from his own personal experience, but also appreciates the advantages of not having to bear the responsibility driving a car.
Elisabeth Kotthaus (Head of Unit, DG MOVE)
Elisabeth Kotthaus is Head of Unit for Social Affairs, Passenger Rights & Equal Opportunities in the Directorate- General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) of the European Commission since September 2017. She joined the European Commission in 2005. She worked there in the areas of TEN-T and the internal market of electricity and gas (DG TREN), anti-fraud (as Member of Cabinet), transport in general (as assistant to the Director- General of DG MOVE), Justice & Home Affairs and Digital Agenda (in the Representation of the Commission in Germany). Before 2005, she was a partner of a major law firm in Germany. Her specialisation was employment law. Her latest publications refer to EU transport law (co-author of the chapter on transport with D. Boeing and T. Maxian Rusche in Hilf-Grabitz-Nettesheim, Das Recht der Europäischen Union, C.H.Beck-Verlag, 2012 pp (loose leaf), and the Chapter on TEN-T in Ortiz Blanco/ van Houtte (Eds), EU Regulation and Competition Law in the Transport Sector, Oxford University Press, 2017).