Simon Bennett is an expert in stakeholder engagement and consultation on major transport infrastructure projects with over 25 years of experience in the UK rail sector. A civil engineer, transport planner and communications professional, he has been involved in the development and delivery of Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, for more than 20 years, from early programme initiation and construction, through to the capture of lessons learned.
Simon worked on the original 1990s Crossrail scheme for London Underground. In 2000, he was seconded from Transport for London (TfL) to Cross London Rail Links to work on developing the project and securing powers. During the hybrid parliamentary bill process, Simon led and managed the Consultation team, which later became the Petitions Negotiation team, and was key to obtaining authorisation for the project, overseeing negotiations and managing the bill and petition handling and response processes.
During the construction phase of the project, Simon was Head of Stakeholder Management, later being appointed Programme Community Relations Manager. In 2015, he was appointed to lead the team responsible for the collation and dissemination of good practice, innovation and lessons learned from the Crossrail project, aimed at raising the bar in industry and showcasing UK PLC.
Simon holds a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and a Graduate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Simon is also an accredited High Risk Review Team Member for the UK Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), participating in the assurance of complex, high risk Government programmes and projects and challenging deliverability, affordability and value for money.