One of the success factors for project delivery is the planning stage. WSP has developed light rail business cases for cities around the world, identifying key stakeholders, advising on scheduling, funding, costs and risk analysis.
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Our team of advisors can guide you on the timeline of services for light rail, tender development and support, project control and the health and safety of the project.
With a clear focus on customer satisfaction, our team of designers, engineers, consultants, architects, project managers and designers can design solutions that are cost-effective and innovative while minimising the impact on the environment.
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We have experience with a wide range of procurement models – on both the client and contractor sides. Our team of 100 procurement specialists and contract managers can support with procurement planning and advice, estimation and risk management, value engineering and management, construction planning and programming, preparation of technical specifications and contract documentation, procurement management and tender evaluation, construction management and auditing and technical observation.
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By adopting an Accelerated Construction (AC) method for light rail, WSP can use innovative planning, designing and materials in a safe and cost-effective manner. Accelerated construction can help to improve site constructability, total project delivery time, material quality and product durability and work-zone safety while minimising environmental impacts and impacts on existing roadway and alignment.
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WSP is a leader in operations and maintenance for a wide range of infrastructure assets, including light rail. Our experience covers the management of assessment and inspections programs, development and implementation of assets management and programmes, maintenance management and training, development of facility management and maintenance programmes and energy management.
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We work with our clients to help them make informed decisions about light rail vehicle selection, through advanced asset knowledge and operational efficiencies that support their business processes and goals.
WSP’s approach to planning and designing light rail is focused on complementing the urban environment and being responsive to the needs of both residents and local businesses.
We challenge ourselves to design resilient light rail systems that meet the standards of sustainability, cost-efficiency and innovation.
WSP for Light Rail
WSP provides expertise in rail and transit project delivery of all shapes and sizes.
Parramatta Light Rail
Parramatta Light Rail is one of the NSW Government’s latest major infrastructure projects being delivered to serve a growing Sydney. Light rail will create new communities, connect great places and help both locals and visitors move around and explore what the region has to offer.
Ring Railway to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Speeding up cross town travel and connecting urban areas with Helsinki’s International Airport
Manchester Metrolink
Since 2007, we have worked to secure funding, develop, expand, and enhance Greater Manchester’s iconic tram system.
Sydney Metro West
Putting customers at the centre of a new generation of world-class trains is changing the way Sydney moves.
WSP for Urban Regeneration
WSP can support both public and private clients with a diverse service offering including urban design and planning, engineering and sustainability to foster placemaking in areas of renewal.
Dudley Creek Flood Remediation
$30m post-earthquake flood remediation and waterway enhancement scheme
David sits as Major Project Director for WSP’s major transport projects. He has a strong understanding of customer expectations and the importance of delivering safe and smart solutions to achieve strong environmental, societal and sustainable outcomes.
David brings a wealth of experience for leadership and governance. He is able to connect the dots by creating inclusive and collaborative teams that consist of clients, mana whenua, partners and stakeholders.
He has a proven track record of using his communication and organisational skills and expertise to establish teams and provide appropriate leadership. In previous roles such as Capital Journeys and Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme, he developed integrated teams which resulted in improved project outcomes.
David’s technical and leadership skills are most valuable in a project where transport connections are fully integrated within the urban form to enable future sustainable growth.
He believes that, for projects to succeed, there has to be accountability and ownership from the top, including: client owners, partners and key stakeholders.
Skills that David brings to WSP projects include:
- Governance and leadership
- Project directorship
- Project business case and economics
- Strategic justification
- Integrated transport strategy
- Transport planning
- Client and partner relationship management
- Contract management
- Asset and network management
- Network operations
- Transport assessment
- Public transport advisor
- Public consultation and engagement
- Technical and peer review
- Land use planning and assessment
- Travel Demand Management (TDM) and travel planning
Dr Alayna Pakinui Rā, Indigenous Design Director at WSP, is of Ngāi Tahu whakapapa (Tūāhuriri) and Ngāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou whakapapa (Tūtekawa).
Her 18 years of extensive experience working with Indigenous communities has found her focusing on social justice and equitable city making. Her PhD focused on Indigenous agency in design and planning processes, and she holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Hons), Diploma in Māori – He Tohu Pōkairua, and a Certificate in Iwi Environmental Management.
Alayna is a key contributor to Te Tau-a-Nuku, the Māori Landscape Architects rōpu, and is a member of Ngā Aho. She also sits on several boards, panels and as a Māori advisor, including the Auckland Council Urban Design (AUDP), Chair of the Landscape Foundation of Aotearoa and provides advisory services to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for design projects in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Alayna has held Director and executive level leadership roles in multi-national design firms and government agencies.
She has also worked on, and led teams to deliver, some of the largest projects and PPPs across Aotearoa and Australia, including but not limited to:
- Waikeria Prison Public Private Partnership (PPP) - Landscape architectural services, Iwi engagement and Māori design services, Department of Corrections.
- Central Queensland Integrated Rail Project (200km) – Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Queensland Rail National
- Wulkuraka New Generation Rollingstock Depot Public Private Partnership (PPP) – Landscape architectural services, Laing O’Rourke QLD
- Western Australia Education Public Private Partnership (8 schools) – Landscape architectural services, EduWest Consortium
Alayna works with clients, consultants and contractors looks at how mana motuhake and agency for Indigenous communities can be upheld throughout project processes and addressed at both an organisational level as well as directly through a project's broader outcomes.
Mark Marshall is the Head of Major Projects – Transport at WSP with over 19 years of experience in project leadership and collaborative delivery of major transport infrastructure projects in Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) and is Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Mark’s career has seen him drive cohesion across multi-disciplinary teams, providing focus and direction, and delivering designs for complex transport infrastructure that integrates constructability, safety, stakeholder and WoL considerations into the design to deliver best for project solutions.
Marks track record has seen him lead major infrastructure projects including (but not limited to), Project Director for the Northern Corridor Improvements & Te Ahu A Tauranga, Design Manager for Northern Corridor Improvements, Project Manager for the Silvertown Tunnel (UK) and Assistant Project Manager for the M25 DBFO (UK).
Skills that Mark brings to WSP projects include:
- Collaborative Design Delivery Experience (Alliance, ECI, and D&C)
- Leadership and Integration of multi-discipline teams
- AMT experience on Alliances
- Project/Design Management
- Health, safety, environmental and quality compliance
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills
- Navisworks BIM clash detection
Sean leads rail and transit infrastructure projects in the Australian and New Zealand market.
He is an industry leader in strategic planning for urban networks, including option selection and feasibility assessment for new corridors.
Sean has advised clients on capacity enhancement assessments for existing networks and step-change asset management programs. He has led numerous multi-disciplinary projects in New Zealand such as City Rail Link, Papakura to Pukekohe and Wiri to Quay Park business cases.
Connect with Sean on LinkedIn
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As a member of the New Zealand Leadership Team, Peter is responsible for WSP New Zealand’s transportation sector service delivery, comprising over 1,000 people across 40 offices, and ensuring WSP delivers on our promises to clients.
The portfolio includes a diverse range of project types – including alliances, collaborative sub-consultant arrangements, design and construction, early contractor involvement, network outcome contracts, structures management contracts and traditional measure and value contracts.
This range of experience provides Peter with an understanding of the pros and cons of each procurement model and how best to harness the opportunities presented by each.
Peter brings both governance and leadership experience, gained from his membership of Alliance Boards, Management Teams for Northern and Southern Corridor Improvements, Te Ahu a Turanga, and the Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway. He has also provided internal governance roles for City Rail Link, Te Ahu a Turanga, Mt Messenger and NCTIR.
Theunis has experience in the planning and development of large and complex infrastructure projects gained by working in both public and private sector organisations.
This includes experience in the development of numerous strategic and indicative business cases as well as communicating and discussing their findings with governing boards, council committees, elected representatives and funding agencies for investment decisions.
Pou Whanake - Technical Director Māori
Kumeroa Pihama
Kumeroa has benefitted from a full-immersion Maori education, being surrounded by the culture in every facet of his life.
He relishes proactive, challenging and forward-thinking roles, drawing on his experiences in the finance industry and his personal relationships.
Kumeroa offers exceptional leadership, communication and customer relationship management skills, including building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders and developing collaborative initiatives.
He is adept in assessing risk and providing mitigating factors or alternative approaches. Kumeroa has extensive portfolio and customer relationship management experience. Since joining WSP he has lead Iwi engagement on multiple projects and continues to do so. He is the manages the social and commercial relationships between WSP and Waikato Iwi.
Key skills include: Iwi engagement, facilitation, risk assessment, economics, communication in Te Reo and English and knowledge of tikanga Maori protocols.
Gemma brings extensive knowledge in stakeholder and community engagement.
Gemma thrived working on one of the largest infrastructure projects in New Zealand’s history with the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team where she developed efficient processes and a range of techniques for effective engagement. Her work on the Queenstown Transportation Business Cases and Accessible City projects show her ability to collaboratively on large scale multi-agency projects in complex urban environments.
Gemma has experience in writing robust co-designed engagement plans and implementing them. Through her work with the community Gemma has proven methods of diffusing conflict, building rapport and developing trusted relationships. Gemma has 11 years’ experience in community engagement on a wide range of projects.
Gemma’s technical skills include: Community Engagement, Co-designing engagement plans, Stakeholder Engagement, District and Regional Plan Assessment and Assessment of Environmental Effects
Jack works at the intersection of urban design and transport planning.
Coming from a career in urban design and transition into the transport sector, he sees the value of urban design thinking can have in transport planning outcomes for rapid transit systems like light rail and metro.
Jack's technical background is in walking and cycling planning and design. He led the walking and cycling design for Auckland Eastern Busway 2 & 3 project, Support Growth Alliance amongst other transport projects. He particularly focused on integrating walking and cycling into the public transport planning and design, where the first mile and last-mile journeys take place.
Scott leads WSP for the Advisory and Transport Group.
Overseeing 130 staff nationally in Australia, Scott is responsible for the overall performance of the group, including project delivery, financial performance, and client satisfaction.
A seasoned professional with a globally diverse 25-year background in the industry, he has served in senior leadership and project management capacities on a variety of design projects and studies worldwide. His global transit experience includes senior roles on projects in Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA, and Asia.
Angus has 20 years of experience with passenger rail and local government in Auckland and Wellington, and has led the delivery of over $1.6 billion of award-winning rolling stock and infrastructure projects.
He also built and led the team that successfully tendered and awarded the 15-year performance-based metro rail operations contract and set the strategic direction and platform for the quality and growth of metro rail in Wellington - delivering record levels of patronage growth and customer satisfaction.
Angus was the instigator of significant change in the NZ metro rail industry including contract model change and the transfer of infrastructure assets to regional authorities. The depth and variety of change Angus has led have made him a confident Project Director with an aptitude for putting together the right team and driving milestones.
Angus most enjoys working with stakeholders to deliver complex programmes of legacy infrastructure and enduring change, all the while juggling the expectations of the public sector with the commercial drivers of the private sector.
He confidently communicates with council, board, community, media and conference audiences and is passionate about continuous improvement of customer and stakeholder relationships.
Urban Design Specialist, NZ
Courtenay Northcott
Courtenay has over 8 years-experience in the private consultancy sector in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.
Courtenay has experience in a wide range of projects from conceptual design through to a range of planning applications, detailed design and tendering, through to construction documentation and on site supervision, for the delivery of: public spaces; station plazas; streetscapes, SuDS, cycle infrastructure; future mobility and transport; infrastructure design; arboriculture; mixed use/residential and masterplanned developments.
Recently Courtenay has been developing the future streets formula and narrative in conjunction with the WSP Future Mobility Team in the UK. She now works closely with the Transport Planning team in New Zealand on future mobility. Placemaking and Future Ready are a passion of Courtenay’s and she strives to design cities and communities that are places for people.
John is a Chartered Engineer with experience in the Rail and Transit, Defence and Automotive industries on a wide range of different programmes.
His technical knowledge includes requirements management, system architecting, interface management, verification and validation, multi-domain modelling, simulation, performance assessment, mechatronic design, control system design, interactive visualisation and software development.
John has considerable expertise in IBM DOORS NG, Microsoft Visio, Enterprise Architect and Matlab/Simulink, alongside a working knowledge of detailed Systems Engineering Modelling Languages (e.g. SysML). John has produced architectures, databases and models for many different systems, including light, heavy and high-speed rail. He has authored numerous technical reports and publications, and presented technical work to audiences ranging from primary school children through to international conferences of world experts.
John has experience in working as part of, and leading, a team to meet difficult technical targets within tight timescales. He encourages and supports the technical development of other engineers, both within the company and externally, through mentoring and coaching, promotes engineering to wider society through work with local schools, and drives innovation within the business and his professional institutions.
Connect with John on LinkedIn
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Darrell is a Project Manager and Design Manager with experience in design and construction management through all project lifecycle phases. Darrell has experience in a wide range of engineering projects including transportation infrastructure, power, bridges and buildings.
He has considerable experience in design and project management for major projects, providing coordination of specialist disciplines and interfacing with construction teams and stakeholder to develop methodology.
He is a qualified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Chartered Professional Engineer in the Geotechnical and Civil fields.
Presently, Darrell sits as the Design Manager for the City Rail Link North Auckland Line.
Darrell’s technical skills include: Geotechnical design, Soil-structure interaction, Foundation Design including Soil Dynamics, Earthworks , Excavation / Retaining Structures and Embankment Design, Slopes and Landslides, Technical coordination, Design management, project management, risk management and safety in design.
Sam is the National Executive of WSP’s Rail business with over 18 years’ experience.
She is a high achiever driven to lead and motivate large successful multidisciplinary teams. An engineer by training, Sam loves to apply her problem solving skills in combination with her unflappable demeanour and a healthy dose of humour to getting the best results out of her teams.
Since joining WSP in 2004 Sam has worked throughout Australia and South East Asia on several, city shaping transport projects.and has contributed to several major transport projects, including Sydney Metro Northwest, City and Southwest and West, WEX/CRL and CRE and the South Island Line East Project in Hong Kong.
Sam’s early career was focused on tunnelling and underground structures where she designed and delivered underground spaces on several large D&C projects and gained significant experience in rock mechanics, excavation design, tunnel contracting and procurement. After this, her career expanded to include design lead and management roles on multidisciplinary projects, with a focus on rail, metro and underground station delivery.
Alan leads WSP NZ’s Urban Design and Landscape Architecture team. A registered AILA & IFLA Landscape Architect, Alan has extensive experience in landscape architecture, urban design, wayfinding, public artworks & construction.
His experience and skillset has come through the design & implementation of large scale projects in UK, Middle East and New Zealand. His key focus has been on transport infrastructure, public realm and residential projects, where social outcomes and environmental systems-wide thinking have been paramount to the success of delivery.
More recently, Alan is the discipline lead for the delivery of the City Rail Link public realm in Auckland, providing leadership in design implementation, community engagement and consent documentation.
He has experience with engaging a wide spectrum of clients, stakeholders and communities where resolution of differing agendas and requirements is key to project success. Experience in delivering masterplanning & guideline documents through to construction has given him the tools to produce strong & engaging design principles that endure the project development process. His experience in costing models and construction phasing (with a focus on reduced operational expenditure & whole of life design), have allowed clients to deliver their visions whilst meeting project programs and capex / opex requirements.
As a director within the Architecture / Landscape & Urban Design team at WSP, he is able to facilitate a holistic approach to the built form and the natural environment. His passion for delivering complex, multi-discipline projects revolves around bringing equitable solutions to our community and environment.
Haley's wide-ranging industry experience in New Zealand and Australia across urban strategy, urban design and architecture. Her skill-set travserses urban design and planning, place-making, visioning and strategy, design management, design/development integration and coordination, and indigenous/mana whenua, stakeholder and community facilitation/engagement.
Haley's skill-set also includes: project/design development, documentation, coordination and management, urban analysis, structure planning, master- planning, feasibility development and capability studies, development consenting, application of Te Aranga Design principles and writing design guidelines to support design and development into delivery, ensuring quality and legacy of place is established in the built outcome.
Haley has experience in various complex large-scale projects ranging from transit-oriented development, urban regeneration and comprehensive mixed-use development schemes, multi-unit housing (private and affordable, brownfields, suburban, peri-urban and greenfields), public realm and streetscape design, town/local centre design and tertiary/educational/retirement schemes.
