Rock Rail, the rolling-stock investment company, has appointed James Le Couilliard as a new partner to focus on rail development opportunities in the UK and Australia. he will be focussing on rolling stock and rail infrastructure procurement projects in the UK and Australia.
James’ appointment comes as Rock Rail is expanding its operations in both Europe and Australia, having successfully secured £3 billion of institutional funding for new rolling stock over the last four years.
Last month Rock Rail announced the launch of its Australian business, with senior infrastructure developer and financier, Jim Eldridge, at the helm. James will work closely with Jim, as Rock Rail seeks to introduce new sources of long-term, highly competitive institutional investment into the market, to meet the growing demand for new intercity transport infrastructure and high capacity commuter travel.
James has over thirty years of commercial experience in major infrastructure transactions in both the public and private sector, predominantly in rail. He has worked in the UK and Australia and held numerous senior level commercial and industry advisory positions, working on some of the UK’s most transformative rail projects including IEP and HS2. Most recently in rail, he was projects and bidding advisor for Hitachi on existing rolling stock supply and maintenance contracts and ongoing bids.
As well as his commercial experience, James brings with him an extensive knowledge and appreciation of public sector operations, having spent seven years as commercial lead on the £5.7 billion Intercity Express Programme for the Department for Transport.
Mark Swindell, CEO of Rock Rail, said: “I am delighted to welcome James to the team. His extensive experience and expertise across the private and public sector and major rail initiatives will be invaluable as we fine tune our approach to create tailored solutions to meet the needs of passengers and our rail, public sector and investment partners across different markets.”
