Chris AustinChris Austin is a board member of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Railways and a co-opted member of the Railway Heritage Committee. Chairman of the West Somerset Steam RailwayTrust, he is also an active volunteer on the line, as well as with the Heritage Railway Association. He joined BR in 1967, working in local management and project planning. For ten years he was the Board's Parliamentary Affairs Manager covering the period of privatisation. He set up and ran a political consultancy for the rail industry before moving to the Strategic Rail Authority where, his responsibilities included producing the Community Rail Development strategy. He retired in February, 2009 as Head of Public Affairs for ATOC. He is a graduate of Cambridge University, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics and was awarded the OBE in 2006 for services to the railway industry. Read More Read Less