EXPERTISE

Martin is a projects lawyer with over 20 years of experience of working in the transport sector, where he has advised both public and private sector clients.  He has a very wide experience of advising in the rail sector, from train operators (both passenger and freight) to rolling stock lessors and from train manufacturers to the Department for Transport.  This means that he had a very good appreciation of the various issues affecting the sector.  He has acted for established players in the rail market as well as new entrants, where his experience has helped to smooth their passage into the UK market.  Martin has worked in some of the leading rail-based transport projects of the past 20 years such as HS1, the London Underground PPP, the restructuring of Eurostar and the establishment of London Rail.  These were all “firsts” of their time and required sharing knowledge from other project work as well as having to fit the projects within existing legal structures.

Martin has significant experience of advising on light rail schemes and bringing in experience from outside to support such projects, including Nottingham Tram, Manchester Metrolink, Midland Metro, Merseytram and Dublin Metro North.  He has been involved in establishing UK Tram as the main industry representative body for light rail in the UK and for the establishment of LRSSB as the industry's safety and standards body.  

Martin is active in the bus sector where he is currently advising on a number of schemes considering the introduction of bus franchising.  In addition he has experience of the sale and purchase of bus companies as well as advising on projects for various new bus operations.  Martin is also involved in projects involving utilities and street works, particularly with respect to understanding the location of underground utility assets and the coordination of street works to reduce the times when streets are closed for works on the utilities.

Experience

Martin's experience includes:

  • Advising the Greater London Authority on the development of an asset register for underground assets.  This project has included advising on the specific funding agreement from the Geospatial Commission, the protection of IP rights in the asset location data and the limiting of the GLA's liability in connection with its involvement in the project.
  • Advising West Midlands Combined Authority on the powers of the regional Mayor to raise specific funds for transport projects, notably station redevelopments, as well as advising on the different licensing requirements for railways and tramways.
  • Advising the Department for Transport on the direct award of the Northern rail franchise which included negotiating with the 5 regional transport bodies through whose areas the franchise operated in order to conclude specific requirements for rail services and funding to such services.
  • Advising Transport for London on establishing the framework for the London Overground Concession.  This was particularly challenging as a complete new structure was required which could operate within the provisions of the current rail specific legislation while meeting a number of requirements relating to the level of control required by TfL.
  • Advising Eurostar (UK) Limited and subsequently SNCF (French national railways) on the reorganisation of the Eurostar group.  The reorganisation had to take account of international treaties and protocols as well as EU requirements for international train operations and the provisions within specific Channel Tunnel legislation. 
  • Advising a rail Infrastructure provider on a number of regulatory aspects relating to access to sidings, track and stations, including specific advice relating to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Advising a consortium of RSSB, Network Rail and a number of UK Universities on funding sources from the EU for rail research projects.
  • Advising East Midlands Trains on the re-leasing of its fleet following the direct award for the East Midlands franchise and on leasing additional rolling stock to cater for timetable changes brought about by the completion of certain works on the Thameslink franchise.
  • Advising Stagecoach Group on the establishment of a procurement framework for rolling stock to support its rail franchise bids for South West Trains, South Eastern Trains, East Midlands Trains and West Coast Partnership.
  • Advising Stagecoach on the rolling stock aspects of its franchise bids for South West Trains, South Eastern Trains and East Midlands Trains including negotiating rolling stock manufacture and supply agreements as well as rolling stock leasing agreements with financiers.
  • Advising GoVia on its successful bid for the Southern rail franchise and on the high speed services which formed part of its successful bid for the South Eastern rail franchise.
  • Advising Freightliner on a major rail haulage contract including provisions relating to minimum usage levels, obtaining access to depots, taking over maintenance provisions for locomotives and the transfer of staff to support the maintenance.
  • Advising Rotterdam Rail Feeding on the leasing of locomotives for rail services in and around Rotterdam port.
  • Acting for EuRailCo (a Transdev – RATP Dev joint venture) on its bids for a number of UK rail passenger franchises including Northern Rail, Merseyrail and Chiltern.
  • Advising Beacon Rail on its first UK railway rolling stock lease and on its first foreign law lease.
  • Advising Eversholt Leasing on the provision of new trains to Keolis Amey Wales as the operator of the Wales and Borders rail passenger franchise.
  • Advising VTG UK Limited on the leasing of various wagons fleets to freight operators in the UK as well as advising on the purchasing on new freight wagons from wagon manufacturers and the on-leasing of those wagons to customers.
  • Advising a freight facility owner on the requirements for track access and connection agreements for the tenants of parts of the freight facility giving regulated rights for the tenants to run rail services over the common track at the facility.
  • Advising UK Tram on the establishment of a light rail new safety and standards board to manage the provision of safety standards and other industry support on safety within the UK's light rail industry.
  • Advising Transport for West Midlands on regulatory aspects of its extension of its tram system to Brierley Hill.
  • Advising UK Tram on the various corporate and regulatory requirements for the operation of an industry representative body.
  • Advising Keolis UK Ltd as part of the winning consortium for the Nottingham Express Tramway DBFO project and the Keolis – Trent Barton joint venture on its operator contracts and subcontracts in connection with Nottingham Express Tramway concession.
  • Advising the RATP Dev – Transdev joint venture on its bid as part of a consortium bidding for the €1.5billion Dublin Metro North light rail DBFO project.
  • Advising the Transport Systems Catapult on establishing an experimental bus feeder service in Bristol.
  • Advising Ascendal Limited on its splitting from Tower Transit Group to form a new transport group to undertake transport projects in the UK and worldwide.
  • Advising SeaLink Travel Group Pty Ltd on its acquisition of Transit Systems Group, including the bus operations of Transit Systems Group's UK bus subsidiary Tower Transit Group.
  • Advising Merseytravel on the reorganisation of its bus services and the development of proposals for bus franchising and other bus service provisions in the Liverpool City Region.
Professional Memberships
  • Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.  Martin is the Chairman of the Institute's Strategic Rail Policy Group, a member of the Institute's Public Policies Committee and a member of its Bus and Coach Policy Group.
  • Associate of the London Institute of Banking & Finance