SLC has appointed Stephen Barker as Regional Lead for Ireland, reinforcing its commitment to advancing rail development in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The rail consultancy, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month, has supported clients with over 100 rail projects across Great Britain, including the Northumberland Line, the largest rail project directly delivered and promoted by a third party. The company is now expanding to help new clients in Ireland.
Stephen Barker, who has over 30 years’ experience working on the railway, possesses a unique blend of skills that can assist Ireland with its rail ambitions, having worked on a wide range of similar projects in Great Britain from inception to completion. His experience spans new station builds, major station refurbishments, line extensions, reopenings, track redoubling schemes and he also played a key role in establishing the case for East West Rail.
“While much of my expertise lies in the early stages of planning and development,” Stephen explains, “I’ve also been involved throughout the entire project lifecycle, so I understand the challenges that follow the planning phase of a rail project.”
“Like many of my SLC colleagues, I have also had front-line experience of delivering a train service and being part of the day-to-day operation of a train operating company, so I understand how those projects influence the daily operation and how they must be designed to suit what the operators need to deliver rather than be designed alone as Engineering Schemes.”
Stephen joined SLC in 2023 and has spent a lot of time understanding and pursuing opportunities in Ireland. Stephen continues: “If you turn the clock back 20 years in Great Britain, I was involved in many similar schemes to those being set out in the All-Island Strategic Rail Review. These also focused on growing patronage on the railways and were also transformative.”
As rail usage remains relatively low in Ireland compared to its European counterparts, Stephen believes there is an opportunity to make a big difference, and he wants to help make that happen. He adds: “Even if only a fraction of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review is taken forward, it will transform rail travel and address some of the imbalances between different modes, both for passengers and freight.
“I feel very excited by the scale of ambition within the review. There are some major upgrades planned, such as on the key long-distance routes, including those between Dublin and Cork and Dublin and Belfast and they face some interesting engineering and decarbonisation challenges. However, I think there’s a lot that SLC can do to support, especially with our experience on transport orientated development, which links the development of new houses and new communities around new or existing railway stations and that’s exciting.”
For more information about SLC, visit www.slcrail.com
