John is a Chartered Professional Engineer with thirty years of experience in railway engineering specialising in signalling, telecommunications and control systems. Initially focused on signalling design and maintenance John has progressed through various roles within KiwiRail and its predecessor organisations providing exposure to train control systems, telecommunications systems, asset management, project management and general management.
John was instrumental in the specification of automatic train protection for the Auckland Metropolitan Rail Network and was subsequently closely involved with the installation of ETCS Level 1 automatic train protection. John is currently the Programme Director Future Rail Systems at KiwiRail and as part of this role is developing strategies to identify and deploy Operational Technology which will provide a step change improvement to the safety and efficiency of rail operations throughout the New Zealand rail network.

Gini Welch is the National Manager of the Rail Safety Regulator at Waka Kotahi. She joined Waka Kotahi in June 2021 after nearly 28 years in the NZ Police where she held a range of both national and frontline roles. She is an experienced people leader with a passion for safety and regulation. Gini grew up in Dunedin, one of 5 daughters to parents who emigrated from the UK in 1971 – the whole family except for Gini are educators. Gini has a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies and a graduate certificate in Applied Management: Emergency Services. She is driven by a strong sense of social justice, and her values are underpinned by fairness, equity, and justice. She lives in Wellington with her 13 year old son – the last one left in the nest!