National Rail Awards

This year’s National Rail Awards will be the first time that the prestigious judging panel is joined by the next generation of rail industry leaders.

Following a highly competitive selection process, five members of the Young Rail Professionals have been chosen to sit on the panel for the 2017 ‘Railway Oscars’, both to give them valuable insight and skills, and to offer a new perspective to the judging process.

More than 70 YRPs enquired about joining the judges. A shortlist of 20 was whittled down to eight finalists, and the final five were then chosen by chairman of the judges John Swift QC.

Those five are: Georgia Ehrmann (Track Access Manager, Arriva Rail North); Michael Clapham (Field Engineer, Bechtel); Lynsey Marshall (Audit & Risk Manager, MTR Crossrail); Fjolle Bunjaku (Scheme Project Manager, Network Rail); and Zak Shayler (Graduate Project Manager, Transport for London).

Candidates were asked to provide answers to a series of questions about their views on schemes such as the NRA, the role of organisations such as YRP, and what they felt was the key to encouraging more young people to join the rail industry. The finalists were then interviewed to further challenge them on their drive to promote best practice in the industry and their enthusiasm for ensuring the success of future generations of rail workers.

Writing to the winners, Swift said: “The panel has given considerable thought to engaging with the Young Rail Professionals - an engagement which I believe will give you a unique insight into NRA decision-making and widen your experience of what is happening in the railway, from innovations to serious day-to-day commitment and customer service across all aspects of conduct.”

RAIL 828 will profile the successful candidates, and we will continue to follow their progress over the coming months. This year’s National Rail Awards takes place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on September 21.