Expertise
Jason has 30 years of experience in the UK and international rail sector, advising on many of the industry’s most complex commercial, regulatory and infrastructure mandates. His practice spans passenger franchising and concessioning, freight and open access, rolling stock procurement and financing, rail infrastructure construction, operation, and regulation, station and depot development, digital infrastructure, and rail sector corporate transactions. The first seven of those years were spent in the public sector, at the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising and then the Strategic Rail Authority before moving to private practice.
- Experience
Examples of his experience include acting for:
- London St Pancras Highspeed on the development of its International Growth Incentive Scheme, the development and negotiation of track access agreements with prospective international passenger operators, the development and funding of the St Pancras Enhancement Project, and the financing of its corporate debt;
- Heathrow Airport on rail regulatory, timetabling and infrastructure matters, including Crossrail funding, Western Rail Link to Heathrow, Southern Access to Heathrow, Network Code development, and commercial operation and maintenance arrangements;
- Transport for London on the development of its passenger operating concession model, including contracting the London Rail Concession, Crossrail Concession, and London Overground Operating Concession, rolling stock leasing and procurement including LOTRAIN, Crossrail Rolling Stock Project, and Class 378s;
- the UK Government on the second iteration of the passenger franchise agreement, the procurement of various passenger franchises, ROSCO undertakings, Railtrack administration and Network Rail creation, rolling stock PPP procurements (InterCity Express Programme and Thameslink Rolling Stock Project), and the sale of Eurostar;
- Angel Trains and Beacon Rail on various rolling stock procurements and leasings, train borne digital assets and data services, and depot financings; and
- various consortia in relation to international railway infrastructure PPP projects in Kuala Lumpur/Singapore, the Czech Republic, and Hong Kong.
- Publications
- Transport Times – Public service investment, investment, investment, does not require tax, tax, tax (2025)
- RAIL Magazine – 30 years of railway privatisation. Oh the irony (2024)
- RailReview – HS2: short-term pain equals long-term gain (2023)
- RAIL Magazine – The growing likelihood of a ‘different type of railway’ (2022)
- Environment Journal: Our misunderstanding of public money may result in environmental catastrophe (2021)
- Great British Railways: The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail – the numbers that tell the story (2021)
- Lockdown has shown us the environmental cost of transport: will we now do what’s necessary to reduce the bill? (2020)
- JD Supra – Do the railways need a moonshot? (2019):
- RAIL Magazine – Extracting value from new approaches (2018):
- Global Railway Review – Funding railway infrastructure when there is no magic money tree (2017)
- Training delivered
- Understanding Public Money
- Drafting Commercial Contracts
- PPPs in Rail
- Year qualified
2001, Solicitor England and Wales, Eversheds Sutherland (Eversheds as was)
- Languages
English, native
- Recognition
Chambers Band 2 – 14 years
- Testimonials
"I wouldn't describe him as your usual City lawyer, and I mean that in a very complimentary manner. He's down to earth and easy to understand and just 'gets' what we need.”
- Education
- University of Hull – BA History (1990-1993)
- College of Law, Guildford – Common Professional Exam (1994)
- College of Law, Guildford – Legal Practice Course (1995)
