Clell Harral

Dr Harral is a founder and principal of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Klein, Inc. and serves as Chairman of the firm. He has over 30 years of experience in transportation, banking, and structured finance. Mr Harral's expertise is in the economics and finance of public infrastructure in the transportation and telecommunications sectors.

• In a career of 22 years with the World Bank, Mr Harral served successively as chief of transport research, highways adviser, policy adviser, principal transport economist for the Asia region, and lead manager for the China Transport Program. For 17 years he directed the international research program that developed and validated the Highway Development and Management Model (through HDM-III). He was a member of the Bank's first economic mission to China in 1980, and subsequently designed the study program, including the Coal Transport Study and the Railway Investment Priorities Study, that defined the Bank’s strategy in China transport, while also managing $1.5 billion in lending for railways, highways, and ports there.

• When the USSR applied for membership in the Bretton Woods Institutions in 1990, Mr Harral was appointed to the task force for the Joint Study of the Soviet Economy, where he led the transport team. He then continued his research on the transformation of socialist economies as Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Institute for International Development.

• In 1991, he was chosen to lead the transportation sector practice of the newly-established European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), where he developed a major program of public and private finance for rail, water, road, and air transport, as well as telecommunications, in what are now 25 countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He emphasized EBRD's privatization role and reduced dependence on state finance by limited recourse project finance and equity investment in private-public partnerships.

• While a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University Institute for International Development, he researched and drafted a book manuscript on restructuring of transport in the Soviet Union—subsequently published jointly with John Strong, John Meyer, and Graham Smith as Moving to Market: Restructuring Transport in the Former Soviet Union (Harvard University Press, 1996).

• As a consultant since 1996, Mr Harral’s has provided guidance and support to the EBRD, Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and IFC, and to their clients for project identification and appraisal, transport policy development, and restructuring of state owned transport enterprises.

• In 2003, Mr Harral evaluated the efficiency of the road transport industry in India for the World Bank. Subsequently the Bank contracted him to extend that work to a comparative study of the development of road and rail transport in India and China over recent decades with the objective to help transfer successful development models between the two countries.

• Between 2006-2011 he was engaged by World Bank to assist in evaluating expressway development, organization, and management in China and advise on economic priorities and organizational structures for future development and management of China’s entire expressway system.

• Between 2009-2011, HWTSK was engaged by Australian Foreign Assistance for the Indonesia Infrastructure Initiative (IndII) to assist in the development of (i) a National Railway Master Plan, (ii) regulations for Special (i.e. local/private) Railways, and (iii) a National Highway and toll finance plan.

• Mr Harral directed a World Bank project in 2012 to support India’s National Transport Development Policy Committee. The work included preparation of the report India Highway Transport Overview Paper: Issues for India jointly with Purdue University team led by Dr’s Kumares Sinha and Samuel Labi.

• Mr Harral has authored or co-authored many other publications on planning, organization, and management of infrastructure and market transition in socialist economies. These include: The Preparation and Appraisal of Transport Projects (1965), The Highway Design and Maintenance Standards Model (1988), The Road Deterioration Problem in Developing Countries: Causes and Remedies (1988), Transport Development in Southern China (1992), and EBRD’s Transport Operations Policy (1992).

John H. Winner

Mr. Winner is a founder and principal of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Klein, Inc. and serves as the firm’s president & CEO. In more than 30 years in the transportation industry, he has worked with both state and private railways, shippers, suppliers, investors, governments, and financial institutions on transport policy, deregulation, restructuring, privatization, efficiency improvement, and strategy development. Over this period, Mr Winner has led many railway reform and restructuring projects and due diligence studies for financial institutions and private investors in the rail sector worldwide.

• Mr Winner has worked with most North American railroads over the course of his career. He served as assistant to the president in the effort to form CSX Railway from six separate rail systems. As a consultant, he worked with CSX on the development of its new operating plan designed to improve network performance and utilization. He also worked with the Union Pacific to develop a detailed operating plan to improve network traffic flows, equipment utilization, and to reduce costs.

• For CSX Transportation, he directed a long run program to improve service reliability and reduce costs. The work included process reengineering in operations management, service design, and equipment management, as well as the development of new organization structures for the operations department. The work established that service reliability was associated with low operating costs and improved equipment utilization. The Service Reliability Project developed and implemented improved practices in crew and locomotive management and established the service lane management concept.

• Working with private financial groups and development banks including EBRD and IFC, he led a series of studies to help bring private sector investment to the Russian railway sector. These projects resulted in more than $10-billion in private finance for railway rolling stock.  

• For a number of private clients, Mr Winner helped develop financing for some $11 billion of railway rolling stock, infrastructure, and maintenance equipment in a number of transactions that included Sound Transit in Seattle, RATP in Paris, TGV equipment for SNCF and EuroStar, the Berlin Metro, and rolling stock for Stockholm commuter services.

• Mr Winner has led or participated in restructuring studies for railways in a number of countries including Ukraine, Russia, Argentina, Armenia, Georgia, New Zealand, Australia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, China, Brazil, and Kazakhstan. In each case, the restructuring strategy involved private sector participation in rail sector in various forms of public-private partnerships.

• In a 2015 World Bank financed project, Mr Winner directed an HWTSK team to help Kazakhstan Railway develop new strategies to capture a greater share of freight flows between Asia and Europe. The work included identification and characterization of institutional relationships for rail transport movements across six different countries; assessment of competing trade routes (including air, marine, road, as well as alternative rail routes); conducting interviews with shippers, freight forwarders, railways, equipment providers, and others; assessment of time, cost, and service reliability. An independent analysis of detailed trade flow data permitted the development of logit model to test service improvements and to identify for the first time the “institutional” penalty associated with rail transport on these routes.

• Mr Winner worked with the Secretariat of Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation program to more fully develop a new CAREC rail strategy. The strategy includes infrastructure investment projects as well as institutional and commercially oriented reforms. The Strategy was presented and discussed with CAREC’s Railway Working Group in March 2016.

• He was a vice president at Mercer Management Consulting, and director of the rail management consulting practice at Booz·Allen & Hamilton.

Mr. Winner was a contributing editor for Progressive Railroading magazine, in which his monthly column, Smart Managing, was published for over ten years. He was vice president at Mercer Management Consulting and director of the rail consulting practice at Booz Allen Hamilton. Prior to entering the consulting business, he worked for the L&N and CSX railroads in the US. Mr Winner has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.

W.H. Thompson

Mr. Thompson is a founder and principal of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Klein, Inc. He has worked in the rail industry for 45 years, specializing in railway and intermodal operations and investment strategy. He has been a visionary railroader and an innovative operations manager.

• Mr Thompson founded and was chief executive officer of ACI Systems, Inc. The company developed the concept and design for computer based automatic rail car identification systems. ACI produced labels, scanners, and information systems for tracking and managing the movements of rolling stock. The company’s visionary labeling systems presaged the movement to equipment tagging and tracking still being implemented by rail equipment owners worldwide.

• During his railway management career, Mr Thompson served 22 years in divisional and system operations, industrial engineering, and corporate strategy positions with Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the Norfolk & Western Railway. While at L&N, he sponsored and installed the first real-time telecommunications based equipment tracking computer system on a North American railway – predecessor to the operations management systems now used throughout the world. The system permitted significant reductions in clerical staff and substantially improved equipment utilization.

• For over ten years, Mr Thompson served as senior vice president and COO of TrailerTrain (TTX), the largest railway equipment leasing company in the world. His responsibilities included marketing, fleet management, purchasing, materials management, and business planning. During his tenure, TTX developed the world’s largest fleet of intermodal rolling stock was the first to invest in articulated spline cars and double stack equipment.

• Working with development banks, railways, and governments, Mr Thompson helped initiate intermodal and container services in South Korea, Thailand, and China, among other countries. He has been a champion of intermodal/containerized rail/truck movement and has consulted widely on the establishment of intermodal services.

• Mr Thompson has undertaken several intermodal investigations in Mexico, including a feasibility analysis for Hyundai Corporation of an intermodal project entailing construction of a railway between Tijuana and Tecate to the Pacific Ocean port of Ensenada. He also conducted an evaluation of railway connections at the port of Veracruz, recommending modifications to railway operations and infrastructure near Veracruz to enhance export freight and container traffic growth.

• Mr Thompson international consulting work began in 1975 when used vacation time to serve as senior railway advisor for the World Bank and, later, the European Development Bank and the EBRD. Since then, he has completed rail and intermodal assignments in the Baltic States, Belarus, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ukraine.

• He was vice president and general manager of the Illinois Central Railway. Mr Thompson returned the railroad to profitability by substantially reducing costs. He introduced new work practices and installed computer systems that permitted 25% reduction in staff. Mr Thompson developed an attrition program that employees and unions considered fair and permitted a substantial reduction in terminal and branch line operations to improve efficiency.

• Mr Thompson served as a member of the board of directors of ABCRail, NACO, and Trinity Industries, three separate rail equipment supply companies.

In addition to his transport activities, Mr Thompson serves as Chairman of the Coronado Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. He has a BA in transportation from the University of Tennessee, and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Richard G. Sharp

Mr. Sharp is a founder and principal of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Klein, Inc. He retired in 2011 but can sometimes be persuaded to stop writing novels and do some consulting work. Dick worked in the transportation industry for 25 years, focusing on the relationship between market structure and economic performance, including issues of competition, pricing, competitive access, and regulation. He has addressed these issues for railways, railway customers, development institutions, and governments in Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, USA, and others.

• For the Government and Railway of Armenia, Mr Sharp analyzed the market for rail and surface transport as a part of the development of a business plan for the restructuring of the Armenian Railway. He interviewed shippers, considered border and international trade flows, and developed forecasts of traffic and railway freight revenue under a number of scenarios.

• Mr Sharp is currently working with the Georgian Railway on a USAID sponsored railway restructuring strategy project. In this project, Mr Sharp has interviewed shippers, analyzed international trade flows, and prepared a series of traffic and revenue forecasts for alternative forms of rail sector restructuring in Georgia.

• For the Queensland (Australia) Corporatisation Taskforce, Mr Sharp developed recommendations for restructuring Queensland Rail to accommodate Australian open access policy and to effectively balance competition, tariff pricing equity and efficiency outcomes.

• Mr Sharp has served as an expert witness for railways and railway customers in dozens of rail rate proceedings. These proceedings have addressed the issues of regulatory standards for reasonable tariff rates, the permissible scope of transport contracts, and third party access to serve shippers over the lines of an incumbent railroad. His experience encompasses both general transport policy determinations and rulemaking proceedings and specific disputes between carriers and between railways and their customers.

• Mr Sharp assisted the Board of the National Railways of Zimbabwe and the Tripartite Restructuring Committee (government, rail management, rail labor) to define appropriate responsibilities and powers for a Railways Regulatory Authority. The Authority was designed to regulate the rail industry as government-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe is restructured into a commercialized rail industry, with vertically separate infrastructure, operations and rolling stock companies and multiple train operating companies.

• Mr Sharp provided expert testimony before US regulatory authorities on competitive effects of the mergers of Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads, the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe systems, the affiliation of Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, and the merger of Chessie System and Family Lines to create CSX Transportation.

• Mr Sharp provided the financial and regulatory policy expertise for the World Bank mission that defined the restructuring program for the Kazakhstan railroads following Kazakhstan's separation from the Soviet Union. This work led to the development of World Bank and EBRD technical assistance projects for rail restructuring in Kazakhstan, including determination of access and tariff policies.

• Mr Sharp's participation in railway concessioning/BOT planning and negotiation and in development of post-reform rail regulatory structures has included projects in southern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Central America.

Mr Sharp holds an AB in government from Harvard University and a Masters degree in public affairs and economics from Princeton University.

Jonathan H. Klein

Mr. Klein is a principal and managing director of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Klein, Inc. He has more than 30 years’ experience in railroad management and rolling stock maintenance, particularly in restructuring and managing rolling stock and shops and in financial systems used on railways.

• Mr Klein has served as rail industry expert on service-lease financing transactions with a total value of more than $6 billion. The equipment includes locomotives, rapid transit equipment, trams, passenger coaches, and high speed train sets including TGV Duplex and EuroStar equipment.

• For the Alstom-Bombardier Consortium that supplied Amtrak with the Acela maintenance, Mr Klein created the complete General Ledger and Cost Center codes for the enterprise’s chart of accounts and new software.

• For Management Audit Services Division of the LAC MTA, Mr Klein drafted a new chart of accounts to provide visibility on maintenance material costs.

• For the Detroit Transportation Corporation, Mr Klein developed the formal revenue accounting software and field procedures to control and account for cash revenues.

• For the Chicago commuter railroad, Metra, he provided financial oversight of a contractor's new railroad car factory. In this work, he disqualified approximately $30 million in claims, and performed audits of accounting systems and manufacturing processes.

• Mr Klein was the Amtrak executive in charge of maintaining, rebuilding, and overhauling 2,500 intercity and commuter rail cars, locomotives, and high-speed trainsets throughout the United States. He assembled a national rolling stock organization from a near-bankrupt, dispirited, and disjointed staff of nearly 6,000 from Boston to Los Angeles. Mr Klein reformed the cost reporting and accounting procedures for this $700 million/year maintenance organization. He personally drafted the new Chart of Accounts used to manage over US$300 million in material purchases, greatly improving cost-effectiveness. Although Mr Klein greatly increased the overhaul and routine maintenance programs at Amtrak, he reduced the annual cost of rolling stock programs by at least US$70 million a year.

• For a privatized freight operator in Argentina, Mr Klein analyzed the maintenance practices and management of the locomotive department and helped develop specific changes needed in inventory management, maintenance procedures, and budgeting to reduce cost and improve efficiency. He also made longer-term recommendations for improving rolling stock investments and maintenance practices.

• In Bolivia, he reviewed the investment potential of freight railway operations of ENFE for a consortium of investors. Assessed the costs to rebuild the locomotives, shops, and cars, and developed operating budgets and capital renewal budgets.

• As Deputy Treasurer, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), Mr Klein was responsible for budgeting and for developing the processes to account for and collect $250 million of cash per year.

• For the World Bank, he developed a comprehensive rail network plan for Afghanistan. His recommendations were adopted by donors such as the UKs-DFID, the ADB, and the World Bank. He then worked in Balkh and Kunduz Provinces as the field team leader surveying the route for Afghanistan’s first railway, connecting northern Afghanistan with the CIS railways through Uzbekistan.

• For investors, Mr Klein reviewed proposals to provide diesel-electric trainsets for the All Aboard Florida new higher speed corridor operations and identified areas of compliance and non-compliance with Federal Railroad Administration 49CFR200 and other regulations.

Mr Klein holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He has published several scholarly papers on rail equipment economics.

Jeremy Drew

Mr Drew is a principal and Managing Director, Europe, of Harral Winner Thompson Sharp Klein, Inc. specializing in transport economics, policy, regulation, tariffs and market analysis. Mr Drew has over 25 years of high-level experience in rail industry consulting in both developed and developing countries. He works extensively in the UK but also has rail experience in many other countries including the United States, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Mongolia, India, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya

• Mr Drew was until recently an independent Board Member at Kazakh National Railways (KTZ) where was Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Strategy and Innovations Committee.

• He was recently International Rail Economist on an Asian Development Bank evaluation of a section of the Shanghai-Chengdu high speed rail corridor in China where he produced revised traffic projections, carried out financial and economic analysis, assessed the impact of the project compared to expectations at appraisal and identified lessons learnt for project concept and design.

• He worked for 4 months as Chief Economist in the traffic and revenue team of a bidder for the ScotRail franchise which operates all rail passenger services in Scotland. Projected future growth in traffic and revenue and the impact and financial consequences of various initiatives.

• He was rail economist and technical adviser in the transaction team for the Greek Government on the privatisation of the railways. Responsible for reviewing traffic forecasts and costs and involved in writing the policy document and the Information Memorandum.

• Working with other HWTSK staff, Mr Drew has carried out for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) four major reviews of rail freight tariffs in Russia to assess whether they discriminate against traffic carried to land borders, particularly to the Baltic States.

• He has analysed and prepared a report on infrastructure access charges in Romania and their compliance with European Union legislation, as part of a project of EBRD.

• He reviewed relevant international rail experience in railway restructuring and track access charges in various European countries, North America, Australia and Russia. He led a Mongolian team in developing a system of charges for Mongolia to encourage private development of infrastructure. The report has been published by the Asian Development Bank.

• Member of team advising the Transport Research Board (TRB) on the funding and financing of rail in the United States. Reviewed and analysed models and experience in Europe, identified and developed alternative funding, financing and revenue generating mechanisms, assessed their feasibility in the US and how they should be implemented.

• As part of the technical and commercial due diligence for the sale of the high speed line between London and the Channel Tunnel, advised one of the bidders on demand and revenue forecasts for domestic and international passenger trains.

• He has served as senior economic adviser at the Community of European Railways, a body that represents the interests of all railways in Europe, focusing particularly on European policy and regulatory issues.

Mr. Drew holds a BA in Engineering and Economics from the University of Oxford, an MA in Transport Economics from the University of Leeds, a Diploma in Accounting and Finance from ACCA and an MSc in the Economics of Regulation and Competition from City University, London. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds and has published many papers on rail economics.

ANDREI ALEXANDROVICH EVDOKIMOV

Mr Andrei Evdokimov is HWTSK’s representative in Moscow and a Senior Consultant. He has 20 years’ experience working in the evolving economy of the Russian Federation and the former Soviet Union on a variety of railway transport and business related issues. A trained economic geographer, Mr Evdokimov also has an MBA, and considerable experience working as a consultant, advisor, entrepreneur, and as a representative of western companies with interests in the Russian Federation and other newly independent states.

• Mr Evdokimov helped the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ebrd) conduct an evaluation of all its lending projects in the Russian rail sector. He interviewed bank staff, Russian customers and decision makers to assess the relevance and consistency of policy dialog with Russian rail companies and provided policy and strategic recommendations to ebrd to guide future lending.

• Mr Evdokimov served as National Sales Leader for GE Rail Services activities in Russia and CIS countries from 2006 to 2009. During this time, he helped develop GE’s capabilities in Russia and other CIS countries and prepared GE Rail Services for entry into the Russian rail freight wagon leasing business.

• Starting in January, 2001, Mr Evdokimov served as president and developer of a new venture in Moscow, SuperJob, a recruitment and employment agency. In this capacity, he developed the business model and strategy for the firm, wrote the business plan, hired the initial staff (a team of twelve professional recruiters), developed the marketing strategy and supervised sales efforts and product design. By the end of 2001 the venture had a backlog of more than $200,000.

• While at Business School, Mr Evdokimov worked with Perkins Engines, a Caterpillar company, in Peterborough, UK. He developed an electronic sales tool describing Perkins Engines and comparing their benefits relative to engines made by competitors.

• Mr Evdokimov served as international representative for NACO Inc, the world’s largest foundry group and a supplier of railway equipment and oil and gas valves. Mr Evdokimov represented NACO and its successor company, ABC-NACO for six years, earning the company its first exposure and sales in the former Soviet Union. He was responsible for finding joint venture partners, visiting plants and making initial due diligence analyses. He helped the company find competitive partners in Russia to source $7-million in castings and fabricated components from Russia.

• He also served as consultant and development representative for Caterpillar Overseas, SA, in Moscow. Here he conducted business development activities, including market strategy development and market research for a new engine assembly plant in Russia. He helped Caterpillar conduct the due diligence necessary for joint venture partnerships with the largest Russian and Ukrainian agricultural, locomotive, and oil & gas industry equipment manufacturers.

• Mr Evdokimov served as consultant and interpreter in a number of assignments for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) starting with its landmark Rail Sector Survey in 1992. He helped EBRD conduct the field preparations for the first EBRD loans to the Rail Sector, in the amount of $250-million. His work with the EBRD has extended over several transport modes, including the Federal Civil Aviation Authority, Vostochny port, intermodal terminals around Moscow, St Petersburg, and Vostochny, telecommunications projects, and highway developments.

Mr Evdokimov graduated from Moscow State University’s with a degree in Economic Geography. He graduated from the American Institute of Business and Economics (AIBEc) in Moscow, and earned an MBA from the London Business School, Europe’s leading business school. He is fluent in Russian, English and French and has a working knowledge of German.

DAVID HUGHES

David Hughes is a Senior Consultant to HWTSK and has broad consulting and executive experience in rail operations, infrastructure and rolling stock. He advises on managing investment, maintenance and operations to realize strategic objectives, optimize asset reliability and maximize long term business cash flow. Consulting assignments include:

• Provided expert testimony in six stand-alone railroad pricing cases for CSX, NS, UP and BNSF which led to the establishment of fair rail shipment rates under government supervision.

• On several occasions over 10 years, Mr. Hughes has participated in technical assistance projects regarding modernization of the passenger and freight transportation systems to Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, including a study of wagon inspection practices in 2014 and a railway safety study for KTZ in 2015 that recommended adjustments to discipline and infrastructure maintenance practices. Mr. Hughes began work with the Kazakhstan railways1990 with a four-week inspection trip that covered most of the main tracks of the railways.

• For the California High Speed Rail Authority, Mr Hughes reviewed the 2014 Operations and Maintenance Plan for California High Speed Rail system for completeness and accuracy and recommended improvements.

• Mr. Hughes led a project team of 4 analysts and 12 engineers to define the annual expenditures over 30 years for infrastructure and rolling stock for capacity improvement investment, replacement capital and maintenance expenses for the heavy haul rail system between the north and northwestern South Africa and the ports of Maputo, Mozambique and Richards Bay, South Africa. Projected traffic is up to 150 million tons of coal plus significant quantities of magnetite, rock phosphate, ferrochrome, chrome and fuel and containers. Actual spending for the five years beginning in 2011will be based on the results of this study.

• Provided due diligence support for dozens of financial transactions for investors and banks.

• Reviewed and critiqued a business proposal to construct a new commuter rail system in Lima, Peru. He also participated in the development of methodologies for initial assessment of new rail operations into the Peruvian Andes and the application of the methodology to three proposals.

• As a member of a panel of distinguished international experts, advised the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India on matters regarding the design specifications, construction standards and contracting terms for a new national heavy haul rail network

• Mr Hughes has advised a number of railways in rate and tariff matters. He prepared an infrastructure maintenance plan for a stand-alone freight railroad between the Powder River Basin and points in Arizona and New Mexico for Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific as part of a stand-alone cost case to determine rate reasonableness. He provided an expert witness rebuttal report on behalf of Union Pacific regarding the sufficiency of line capacity and adequacy of track maintenance practices in the Powder River Basin for an arbitration case brought by Wisconsin Public Service Corporation. He also provided expert witness testimony on behalf of Union Pacific regarding the feasibility and efficiency of introducing loaded unit trains of coal to Entergy’s Independence Steam Electric Station over Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad (“M&NA”) via an interchange with BNSF Railway Company (“BNSF”). He helped design an operation and maintenance plan for a 7,000-mile-long stand-alone railroad in the Eastern U.S. in a proceeding before the Surface Transportation Board.

• dvised a major non-US railway on least-cost investment and operating improvement options for increasing system throughput by 50%.

• In addition to the recent assignments above, Mr. Hughes has been engaged in dozens of railroad infrastructure and operations assignments in over 30 countries.

Mr. Hughes also has extensive executive, managerial and technical experience in the rail industry. Most recently he served as Acting President and CEO of Amtrak 2005-2006. He served four years as chief engineer of Amtrak before becoming Acting CEO. He also served as President of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, President of Pandrol Incorporated, a worldwide manufacturer of products for the railroad industry and President of Speno Rail Services, a maintenance contractor. Earlier in his career he was chief engineer and Acting President of the Boston & Maine railroad and held numerous engineering and management positions with Southern Pacific Railroad.

As former president of a regional railroad and former chairman of Regional Railroads of America (now Regional and Short Line Railroad Association) he is thoroughly familiar with the operations and maintenance practices of non-union regional and local railroads and has performed numerous consulting assignments to evaluate railroad operating and maintenance plans in conjunction with the purchase, sale or financing of regional railroads. He co-founded and was first chairman of Regional Railroads of America, a group formed to represent the interests of regional railroads to Congress. In that capacity, he testified on several occasions before House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over railroads. He has appeared on CNN, CNN International, CBS and Public Broadcasting commenting on passenger rail issues.

Mr. Hughes holds a B.S degree in civil engineering and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He has 30 years of experience as a registered professional engineer and is fluent in English and has a working knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese.

STEVEN SILKUNAS

Mr. Silkunas is a senior consultant to HARRAL WINNER THOMPSON SHARP KLEIN, INC. He has more than 30 years experience in transit and rail planning and operations, including “hands-on” experience as a vehicle operator, road supervisor, scheduler, planner, chief officer, and director. Mr. Silkunas career has been one of innovation—making a good better—through the application of non-transit principles and techniques to transit and intermodal operating and revenue problems.

• For SEPTA, Mr. Silkunas investigated various modal options for streetcar service in Philadelphia. The study, of which he was the primary author, used present value analysis as an evaluation tool to deal with disparate vehicle and infrastructure issues. This study shaped SEPTA’s surface rail investment decision ($150 million in 1981 dollars) for the next two decades. The report, when issued, was highly controversial. Subsequent review by expert evaluators over the next 15 years called the work “technically excellent.”

• As a consultant to a contractor for the State of New York, recast Amtrak schedules to take advantage of the operating efficiencies of turbotrains. Resultant schedules provided increases in frequency of service and reductions in platform hours. This effort allowed the State of New York sufficient information to renegotiate with Amtrak.

• As the Chief Officer of SEPTA’s Frontier Division, a suburban bus operation, achieved a 13 percent increase in ridership when comparable system average was 0.5 percent. Achieved a mean distance between failure of over 8,000 with a bus fleet that exceeded an average life of 12 years.

• As the Director, Technical Services and Research of SEPTA, directed the research, planning and analytical efforts of a 120-person department encompassing management, professional and hourly employees. Developed nationally recognized programs in the monitoring of on-time performance and passenger counting on all modes (bus, light rail, rapid transit, commuter rail) for scheduling, planning and marketing purposes. Converted manual processing techniques to computer-assisted techniques. Created DALLAS, a comprehensive report on system/route performance. Developed and implemented a service quality auditing program at the operator level.

• Developed, at the request of the SEPTA Board, a “transit first” initiative to reduce operating expenses through speed improvements. The initial methodology was subsequently revisited to produce savings of up to 10 percent without reducing levels of service.

• Initiated and oversaw the procurement of third-generation transit scheduling software. Innovations included a PC-based platform, future upgrades to be included in initial contract price, and system design with the software proposal.

• As the new manager of a schedules department after an early retirement, reduced schedulemaker headcount and achieved “on time” delivery of schedules for the first time in a generation without the use of overtime. Other efficiencies included the elimination of in-house printing and a $50,000 reduction in paper expenses.

Mr. Silkunas holds a BA, Cum Laude, in Philosophy from St. Charles and an MBA in Taxation from LaSalle University. Mr. Silkunas is also certified by the American Society for Quality as a Quality Auditor and Quality Manager. He has been a panelist and industry expert for TRB/TCRP panels on bus operating standards, scheduling and marketing, and serves as member or chair on a number of TRB and APTA committees.

PAMY ARORA

Mr. Arora is a Senior Consultant to HWTSK. Mr. Arora specializes in transaction strategy, tender contracts, concessions, strategic planning and privatization strategy for ports, and is experienced in attracting private investors, and assisting clients negotiate with investors. Mr. Arora has worked as an Investment, Transaction and Concession Specialist on over 60 transportation, maritime, and port projects. He is also Executive Vice President with The Cornell Group and has more than 25 years of experience. Some relevant projects include:

• UAE - Abu Dhabi Industrial Diversification Strategy: For the Office of His Highness, the President of United Arab Emirates, Mr Arora developed an industrial diversification and investment strategy to identify which industries to target for a new industrial park in Abu Dhabi, and to attract investors for a public-private partnership for an Industrial Park and Free Zone. This industrial park would include port services, manufacturing, service and transportation industries, similar to Jebel Ali.

• Yemen - Aden Container Terminal Joint Venture with Dubai Ports World: He advised the Minister of Transportation with the financial valuation and negotiation of the J.V. contract terms with Dubai Ports World. DPW will invest $200+ million for berths.

• Yemen - National Ports Strategy & Master Plan: Mr Arora advised the Ministry of Transportation on a national port strategy. The report included financial evaluations, public-private-partnership options, and strategic financing alternatives for development of existing and new port terminals, including strategies for Mukalla, Burum and Dhabah.

• Lebanon - Port of Beirut. Strategy & Concession Plan: Created a long-term strategic development and operations plan, developed tender documents and evaluation criteria, and assisted the port in selecting an international port operator to for an operating concession at the container terminal.

• UAE – Dubai: As an expert witness, Mr Arora assisted a government client with arbitration and potential negotiation of a $700 million concession and tender contract with a strategic investor. In another project for the Port of Dubai, Mr Arora conducted a valuation of $50 million Lease. Conducted long-term cargo and financial forecasting and developed cash flow models to determine the operating and lease value of a cargo facility at the port of Dubai.

• South Korea - Pusan Joint Venture & Negotiation: He helped a consortium of international shipping conglomerates negotiate an investment strategy and JV concession for a new $2.3 billion container port. Developed Request for Proposals, evaluated tenders, selected world-class port management firm, and negotiated JV concession contract.

• Sri Lanka - Port of Colombo: Mr Arora conducted Economic and Technical Feasibility analysis of developing a new $2 billion container transshipment port. He conducted analysis to determine capital investments required and sources, the role of the port authority, and the relationship between the private and public sector. Later, he assisted the Government Bureau of Infrastructure Investment in awarding a $250 million Joint Venture management concession for Elizabeth container terminal. In this process, Mr Arora developed concession contracts, assisted in negotiations with investor, resulting in $39 million increased revenue to port.

• Colombia – Colombia Ports: Mr Arora developed a business plan for privatizing port services and management of Colombia’s ports. He developed tender documents, short-listed qualified investors, evaluated tenders and assisted in bidder selection.

• South Africa – Pretoria: For the Department of Public Enterprises, Mr. Arora developed a strategic plan for port modernization, investments and privatization of 8 public ports. Developed a concession strategy.

• Russia - Port of St. Petersburg: Mr. Arora was advisor first to the government of Russia in privatizing the port, and after two years, advised a consortium of U.S. and German investment banks acquire 51% shares of the port. Advised on all aspects capital investments, bidding and acquisition of the concession.

• India - Mumbai, Chennai, JNP and Ennore ports: Mr. Arora assisted the Ministry of Surface Transport and the Asian Development Bank develop concession, tender and tender documents and selection criteria for the ports.

• Venezuela - Port Privatization and Investment Strategy: Mr Arora defined infrastructure capital investment needs for restructuring and privatizing the ports. Privatized eight public ports, and leased two to private operators.

• Mexico - Port Privatization Strategy: In a major project for Puertos Mexicanos, the Mexican port management authority, Mr Arora developed privatization strategy for 25 ports in Mexico.

• Hati - Port-au-Prince: For the Prime Minister and the Central Bank Governor of Haiti, Mr Arora developed strategic business plans for privatizing the ports and airports, and attracting private investors to lease and operate the ports and airports. He also developed tender documents and helped in the privatization process.

• Guatemala - Puerto Quetzal: Mr Arora developed a business plan to determine the economic viability of building a new container cargo terminal. Developed privatization and concession documents, assisted with selection.

• China – Port of Yangkou: In a greenfield development project, Mr Arora developed the Strategic Master Plan and Long-Term Development, Investment and Privatization Strategy for the Port of Yangkou. As a part of this work, he developed investor/ operator bidding and concession plans.

• USA - Alaska Port Master Plan: Recently Mr Arora developed the Strategic Master Plan and Long-Term Development, Investment and Privatization Strategy for the Port and Industrial Park at Port Mackenzie.

• Angola - Cabinda Port Concession: Mr Arora developed the Strategic Plan, Investment Feasibility, and Privatization Strategy for the Port at Cabinda and created a concession plan for the authority.

• Caribbean Ferry Market. – For the IFC, World Bank Group, conducted a market analysis for starting a new ferry service and related ship repair facility in the Caribbean. This project will be financed by strategic private investors.

Prior to joining The Cornell Group, Inc. and Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc. in 1986, Mr. Arora had worked for several years in senior management positions with US, UK and European ports and shipping companies, infrastructure and transport companies. Earlier, Mr. Arora has also worked at Garden Reach Shipyard in India.

Mr. Arora has an MBA degree in Finance and Operations Management from Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, and a BS degree in Marine Engineering and Transportation Economics.

Martin Blaiklock

Mr Blaiklock is a senior financial consultant to HARRAL WINNER THOMPSON SHARP KLEIN, INC. A specialist in the structuring of limited recourse project finance, Mr Blaiklock has over 25 years of professional experience in investment banking, commercial lending, international trade and project finance. Over the past ten years, Mr Blaiklock has been an independent financial consultant working on a series of assignments involving private finance of airports, railways, roads, ports, and power plants in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

• Mr Blaiklock led the Project Finance Group of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) when it was first established in 1991. In that capacity he pioneered the use of limited recourse financing for infrastructure projects in the former Eastern bloc, including airports, airline reservation systems, air traffic control, toll roads, and power plants.

• Mr Blaiklock was chairman of the EBRD/EU Committee evaluating the large (and controversial) proposal presented to the Bank for the US$800 million upgrading and rehabilitation of Slovakia's Mochovce Nuclear Power Station. He subsequently became Director of Power and Energy Utilities for EBRD.

• He developed a training program for EBRD staff covering various forms of private sector participation in public financing projects (PPPs) and delivered this training curriculum to EBRD and other development bank staff.

• Since establishing his consultancy in 1995, Mr Blaiklock's principal projects have involved structuring of private finance for:

• Venezuela: La Vueltosa Hydroelectric Scheme (1998-99)
• Ghana: Kotoka International Airport (1998-99)
• Bulgaria: Sofia International and Bourgas Airports (1996-1997)
• South Africa: Coega Port (1997-99 )
• Czech Republic: Prague Airport-Kladno Fast Light Rail Link (1996)
• Indonesia: Ministry of Transport, private participation in ports, railways, roads, and airports (1996-98)

Mr Blaiklock also has extensive experience with funding of urban rail systems. From 1976, he served for 3 ½ years as Resident Financial Advisor to the Metro de Caracas, Venezuela. In 1984 he undertook the financial feasibility studies for Manchester Metrolink, UK, and in 1989 evaluated BOT proposals for the Ankara Metro, Turkey, and Lisbon Metro, Portugal. In 1997, he advised three UK light rail and busway projects on private finance alternatives.

Prior to joining EBRD, Mr Blaiklock worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) as Director of Trade Finance (1985-1991). In that capacity, he was responsible for developing project and export finance opportunities in Europe, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. Mr Blaiklock began his project finance career with Kleinwort Benson (1973-1985).

Mr Blaiklock holds an MA degree from Oxford University and an MBA from the University of Manchester Business School. He is the author of several professional papers and is widely sought as a lecturer on the techniques of limited recourse project finance.