Dr Tony Roche

Tony is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and was President of the IMechE in 2001/2. A former Governor of Imperial College, London, Tony was honoured with the award of a Doctorate of Technology at Oxford Brookes University. He is also a Vice President of RedR, the world renowned Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief.

He is a career railway engineer whose final appointment with British Rail was that of Board Member for Engineering and Safety, a crucial role during the phasing in of privatisation in the mid 1990's. Subsequently Tony has not only supported the development of FCP's engineering practice with Bob Clarke, but has also held non-executive directorship of National Rail Supplies Holdings and of South Eastern Trains, the latter during the three year period between 2003 and 2006 when the franchise was withdrawn from Connex and subsequently re-let to Go-Via.

After completing his engineering degree and becoming a Chartered Engineer, Tony went on to enjoy a varied and eventful career with British Rail. He led the team responsible for the construction of the highly successful High Speed Diesel Multiple Units (the 125s), which are still operating to this day and subsequently filled nearly every senior post in his discipline that it was possible to fill. In the early Nineties and prior to joining the Main Board, he led the development and sale of nearly every subsidiary company in British Rail that was not either a train or an infrastructure company.

Tony's work for FCP is extensive and of a highly strategic nature in which he calls upon both his technical and professional expertise as well as his understanding of the railway operating and commercial framework. His services are often called upon by government agencies when they need specialised but experienced advice concerning the development of matters relating to rolling stock design and procurement and to the wheel-rail interface. On several occasions he has also fulfilled the role of expert witness in high profile cases and led management teams undertaking health checks at the request of private companies and government agencies.