Rail Industry Connect is entering the next stage of its development, introducing a refreshed editorial format and three regular columnists as the publication looks to bring more analysis, opinion and industry debate to its audience of more than 80,000 subscribers.
From late September, Richard Lungmuss, Laura Wright and Chris Morgan will become regular contributors to RIC, bringing perspectives spanning railway operations and infrastructure, policy and reform, and health, safety, systems and sustainability.
The move represents an evolution of RIC’s editorial approach. Alongside its established news coverage, the publication will put greater emphasis on interpreting developments across the railway – examining why they matter, what they mean for organisations working in the sector and what could happen next.
Richard Lungmuss: an experienced railway perspective
Richard Lungmuss brings decades of senior railway, infrastructure and project delivery experience to the new line-up.
His career has included senior leadership positions within Network Rail, including Route Director and Maintenance Director, alongside involvement in the delivery of major railway programmes.
His column will draw on that experience to examine some of the practical challenges facing the railway, from infrastructure investment and project delivery to leadership, innovation, performance and the future shape of the network.
The intention is not simply to describe developments, but to offer the perspective of someone who has spent much of his career responsible for delivering and operating railway infrastructure.
And he is unlikely to be short of opinions – which is exactly the point.
Laura Wright: making sense of reform and policy
Laura Wright will bring a different perspective, focusing particularly on the increasingly complex policy and structural environment surrounding the railway.
With around 20 years’ experience helping organisations understand and respond to change across rail, transport and logistics, Wright’s career has included senior policy roles at Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group.
Her experience includes work surrounding the EU Fourth Railway Package and the industry’s response to Brexit, as well as major programmes including Thameslink, Reading Station and Crossrail.
More recently, her work has concentrated on rail reform, legislation, devolution, regulation, stakeholder strategy and organisational positioning.
Those issues are becoming increasingly significant as the railway moves through another major period of structural change.
Wright’s contribution to RIC will therefore look beyond individual announcements to consider what changes in government policy, legislation, regulation and industry structure mean in practice for businesses and people across rail.
Chris Morgan: safety, systems and sustainability
Completing the initial columnist line-up is Chris Morgan, who brings more than 30 years’ experience working within high-risk organisations.
His career has focused on helping businesses become more effective and efficient through health and safety, systems and sustainability leadership.
Morgan’s contribution will provide another practical industry perspective, exploring how organisations manage risk, improve their systems and build sustainable businesses while continuing to deliver in a safety-critical environment.
At a time when the industry is balancing reform, financial pressures, workforce change, new technology and demanding safety obligations, his column will examine the realities behind those challenges and the opportunities for businesses to improve.
More than reporting the news
When Rail Industry Connect launched, its ambition was straightforward: to create a publication that kept the rail industry informed, connected and engaged.
RIC has since grown to an audience of more than 80,000 subscribers.
That reach creates an opportunity – and a responsibility – to do more than simply report the increasing volume of announcements, contracts, appointments, policies and projects emerging across the sector.
There is already plenty of news.
What matters increasingly is understanding what that news means.
That is the thinking behind the refreshed format. RIC’s new columnists will be encouraged to interpret developments, challenge assumptions, explain their significance and, where appropriate, disagree with each other and with the prevailing industry view.
Because the most useful industry conversations are not always those in which everyone reaches the same conclusion.
As Rail Industry Connect enters its next stage, our aim is to retain the fast, relevant industry news our readers expect while adding more experience, analysis and informed opinion.
Not simply what happened – but why it matters, and what happens next.
