Board Members

The Committee has a Chair and five members. They are appointed by the London Assembly. 

The current members of the London TravelWatch are:

Sharon Grant - Chair

I have lived near Alexandra Park in Haringey, North London for over 30 years and I use the combination of trains, tubes and buses servicing the area extensively. I'm also a driver, and ex-motorcyclist and a keen walker and a jogger. And when time is short, I do leap in a taxi! 

I began my career as a university lecturer in social policy and as an examiner for the Open University. I became involved in politics as a councillor in the 1980's, and then subsequently retired from academic life to work in Parliament running the office of a busy campaigning MP for many years until 2000. I was appointed Chair of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement for Health, a national statutory body in 2002, before becoming Chair of London TravelWatch in 2008. I also sit on an Advisory Committee on Consumer Engagement at the Food Standards Agency, and Chair my local Citizens Advice Bureau. I'm a trustee of an Arts Centre and sit on two other charitable boards. 

I applied to become Chair of London TravelWatch because I thought the consumer voice in the travel industry needed to be strengthened in London and that my experience running a similar consumer body in another sector would be of value. A campaigning and casework background is also relevant in our work as is the experience of the political system and building an organisation with good governance and participative culture. 

I'm especially interested in engaging the public in decision making and making public services of all kinds accountable to those they serve, and in opening London TravelWatch up to the views of all the communities that make up our city. 

David Barry

I live just within North Islington, on the borders of Haringey and Camden. I regularly use the numerous buses serving the area and Archway and Finsbury park tube stations. I am originally from Ireland. 

For a living I work as a consultant helping people work more effectively with computer systems. I specialise in helping people work together without having to be in the same place; this includes using videoconferencing and telephone conferencing. I also advise on remote working and am a part time university teacher. In a voluntary capacity, I'm chair of governors at a local primary school, a trustee of the regeneration trust for Finsbury Park, and an elected governor of Camden and Islington Mental Health NHS Trust.

Transport is key to London being a liveable city; without an excellent transport system the scale of London is a problem. With a transport system the scale becomes and opportunity. There are a number of competing interests in the field of transport. It is crucial to have a body that represents the passenger alone, to make sure a passenger voice is heard. I had a previous background in consumer advocacy and wanted to use this experience.

As a board member I want to pursue the wider issues arising from the appeals work much more strongly and to raise public awareness of London TravelWatch. Complaints should be seen as a resource by operators as they indicate where things are going wrong. On the other hand, we should be aware that the articulate and well-informed are more likely to complain and accept that we have a role in being pro-active so that we can be a voice for those without one.  

Terry Bennett

I've lived in Theydon Bois in Epping Forest since 1997, having previously moved to Newham in 1990. I've used London transport independently since the age of 12, and after leaving school had jobs that involved daily commutes from my home in Surrey. Consequently, I have good knowledge of the Underground network and a familiarity with many of London's rail and bus services. 

In 1985 I went to teacher training college in Portsmouth where I was a member of the Polytechnic Academic Council for three years. I graduated with First Class Honours in 1990 and took up a class teacher post in Poplar, Tower Hamlets, before moving to a school in Bethnal Green in 1993. In May 2001, I was appointed Headteacher of St Pauls's, Whitechapel. I have been a member of London Diocesan Headteachers' Council for five years and a member of Tower Hamlets' School Forum for three years. 

I have always been an advocate of affordable, reliable public transport and after the Central Line was closed for several weeks in 2003, decided that I would like to be involved in passenger consultation at a strategic level. It was after this I applied to join the board of London TravelWatch.

As someone who uses public transport extensively, but also enjoys walking and cycling and makes many journeys by car, I do not regard myself as a champion of any specific mode. I feel that it is important, particularly in the current climate, to press the case for the continual improvement of our transport system. 

Gail Engert

I've lived in London most of my life in various areas including Pinner, King's Cross, Stoke Newington and Putney, finally settling in Muswell Hill for the past 22 years.

I have been a curator in Liverpool, an organiser of major exhibitions for the Arts Council of Great Britain and then a partner in a successful typographic design group for over 30 years. I found myself being increasingly involved in local community issues and in 2004 I was elected as a local councillor for Muswell Hill, Haringey. 

I don't drive and when my son was young, I took him all over London and to many other cities using public transport and witness both its joys and frustrations. I applied to be a board member of London TravelWatch because I learnt from residents that good, safe reliable public transport is fundamental to them, as it allows proper access to facilities and jobs and I wanted to champion their concerns. 

I am passionate about equality of access and that is why I chair the Access to Transport Committee. As a keen walker, I am also a fierce advocate for the needs of pedestrians such as proper signage, uncluttered, even walkways and safe crossing points. 

Sophia Lambert

I have always lived in Central London. I used to be a senior civil servant, including a long spell at the Department for Transport, although I am now retired.

When I retired, I looked around for other interesting things to do. I currently sit on a number of other bodies and I write articles on local history. However, I have always been a big user of public transport in London, and on my way to and from work on the underground or bus I would often compose letters in my head saying how I thought things could be improved from the passengers' point of view. Of course I never got round to writing them!

However, when the opportunity to become a board member presented itself, I was therefore delighted to be selected, so that I could do my bit to get better systems in place.

From my time in the Civil Service, I have a lot of experience of running complaints and correspondence systems; managing research programmes; financial management etc. This has proved useful as a board member of London TravelWatch and I've taken a particular interest in improving our casework complaints system, as well as developing our research capacity.

Bus and underground (especially the Circle Line!) are my main interests.  

David Leibling

I've recently moved to Pinner in North West London from Northwood where I lived for 30 years. I retired ten years ago from a career in marketing in the motor industry, finishing up working for the RAC. I now have various roles in the transport industry besides London TravelWatch  and I'm the London representative of the Passenger Focus board, our national sister organisation. I sit on the Public Policy and Research Committees for the RAC Foundation, the lobbying arm of the RAC and have written papers for them on issues such as shopping and parking. I have a keen interest in road safety having spent eight years as a non-executive director of the Driving Standards Agency and 15 years as a trustee of RoadSafe, the road industry's road safety campaign. I am naturally keen to see that motorists get a fair share of resources while ensuring that public transport runs as efficiently as possible. 

Biographies written by each board member personally. 

Members' Declarations of Interest