IPEX Consulting

An end of year message from Tom Hopkins our Managing Director: The week before the Christmas break always seems to be one of the busiest of the year. Many projects have an ‘end of the year’ deadline while even those that don’t seem to need extra attention ahead of the holidays and then there’s firming up plans and agreements for work that starts in January. Not to mention all the preparations and time for family events out of work. All of this is of course reflected on our rail network, with millions of journeys to be made over the next few busy days. With this as the backdrop, it’s difficult but important to take a little bit of time to look back on the achievements of the past year and to be grateful that it has been busy and rewarding, despite challenges and change. And above all to appreciate the colleagues, clients, industry contacts and suppliers who have made it all possible. So a big thank you to the amazing team at IPEX, to our clients, and everyone who we’ve worked with this year, looking forward to more of the same in 2025! With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year from me and everyone at IPEX Consulting. 

IPEX is delighted to announce that as part of the establishment of an Australian arm of our business, Chris Hoskin, one of our long-standing Company Directors, and our Head of Technical, has relocated back to Australia.  Chris lived in Sydney between 2006 and 2013, and while there, married an Australian and started raising a family. He worked on projects across the Australasian region including the Waratah train procurement, the EMU procurements in Wellington and Auckland, the Sydney Inner West light rail procurement, the CBD and South East light rail DBOM, the Traveltrain strategy resulting in the procurement of the third Tilt Train for the Brisbane – Cairns route, the development of RISSB standards, and Chris was part of the team that created the Asset Management Branch of Transport for NSW, leading the establishment of the rolling stock standards team. Chris also volunteered for the IMechE, holding the positions of Honorary Secretary and then Chair of the NSW Branch.  Read more: https://lnkd.in/eSVEFk-Q #Australia #NewZealand #rail #railconsulting #railindustry #publictransport #engineering #consulting

IPEX Consulting is pleased to announce that David Shipley has been promoted to Associate Director, recognising his significant experience, service to IPEX, and industry wisdom. Robert Clayton, Business Development and Growth Director said, “I am delighted that David has received this just reward for his long service, extensive experience, and dedication to IPEX Consulting and the railway industry.”

IPEX was delighted to support the hard work of Timothy Jackson, Rachel Picard, and the entire Proxima team across this significant rolling stock order. The Proxima project will transform high speed train services in France with Alstom's Avelia Horizon, and we look forward to seeing Alstom deliver its train maintenance expertise at the new build Marcheprime depot in Bordeaux. Congratulations to all involved.

Is Sectorisation the answer?  With The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill presented in Parliament on Thursday 18th July as the first step towards the renationalisation of passenger operations on GB’s railways, in this Insight Chris Hoskin provides some pointers on where the change could make a difference, including a review of upcoming train procurements of Great Western Railway (GWR), Northern, and TransPennine Express. Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) #rail #railindustry #railconsulting #rollingstock https://lnkd.in/eT9srDqz

IPEX is delighted to be able to support Young Rail Professionals (YRP) in the great work they do.

IPEX is delighted to announce that as part of our growth plans, we are expanding into Australia. We have been operating in Australia and New Zealand for nearly a decade, providing our consistent expert advice primarily across the disciplines of rolling stock strategy, procurement, and financier due diligence. We are also fortunate to have members of the IPEX team who have previously worked in Australasia, so it was an easy decision to select Australia as our first location away from the UK to establish a presence. Malcolm Wilson, Chair of the IPEX Board, affirmed “This is a super exciting chapter for IPEX. When IPEX Consulting came into being 21 years ago, we couldn’t possibly have imagined that the company would command the client and project portfolio and reach that it has now amassed. Yet, having worked on fascinating projects in 20 different countries across all six of the rail-equipped continents, this next exciting step of establishing a local presence in Australasia for our amazing team of experts represents a fantastic new chapter for us!” #Australia #NewZealand #rail #railconsulting #railindustry #publictransport #engineering #consulting

IPEX is delighted to announce that as part of our growth plans, we are expanding into Australia. We have been operating in Australia and New Zealand for nearly a decade, providing our consistent expert advice primarily across the disciplines of rolling stock strategy, procurement, and financier due diligence. We are also fortunate to have members of the IPEX team who have previously worked in Australasia, so it was an easy decision to select Australia as our first location away from the UK to establish a presence. Malcolm Wilson, Chair of the IPEX Board, affirmed “This is a super exciting chapter for IPEX. When IPEX Consulting came into being 21 years ago, we couldn’t possibly have imagined that the company would command the client and project portfolio and reach that it has now amassed. Yet, having worked on fascinating projects in 20 different countries across all six of the rail-equipped continents, this next exciting step of establishing a local presence in Australasia for our amazing team of experts represents a fantastic new chapter for us!” #Australia #NewZealand #rail #railconsulting #railindustry #publictransport #engineering #consulting

IPEX Consulting is delighted to congratulate Greater Wellington Regional Council and Horizons Regional Council on reaching the RfP release milestone for their significant rolling stock procurement project for the Lower North Island Rail Integrated Mobility (LNIRIM) Programme in New Zealand. We are also excited to share that we are working with the Councils for the project, bringing our skills in rolling stock procurement, specification development, and maintenance specification and contractualisation. We have been working alongside our partners WSP in New Zealand, Etheus, and Ashurst. We look forward to seeing the solutions offered by Alstom, CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles), and Stadler, and are proud to be providing, once again, our specialist expertise for the procurement of decarbonised rolling stock bringing 21st Century trains to New Zealand, and leading to a greener, cleaner, world. More details here: https://lnkd.in/dq56-MqQ #rail #rollingstock #decarbonisation #procurement #railconsultancy

A compelling trend emerging in the ever-evolving landscape of the rail industry is the growth of open access services across across Great Britain and Europe. In the UK, open access has been around for over 15 years through long standing Grand Central Rail and Hull Trains. The recent success of Lumo, despite the demise of franchising, passenger service contracts, and Great British Railways, has led to greater interest in open access. First Rail, owner of Lumo, have recently applied to run services from London Euston to Rochdale via Manchester Victoria. They join Grand Union Trains, GO-OP Train Co-operative, Virgin Trains and Alstom (under the guise of Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway) in publicly declaring plans for new open access services. In France, the new open access operator Proxima, financed by Antin Infrastructure Partners has just been unveiled which will begin services in 2027, a project for which IPEX has been acting as Technical Advisor. The IPEX team is keenly attuned to the intricacies of open access and the shifts it brings to the rail sector. Joseph Brown's Insight discusses how and why the choice of rolling stock should be front and centre when developing an open access business case. https://lnkd.in/e_S_V5g6