Richard Bowker

Company: Union Railway
Position: CEO

Biography: Richard Bowker is CEO of Union Railway, the federal body responsible for developing the UAE’s national railway.

The next 12 months are set to see a series of major contract awards on the scheme. More than 20 groups submitted prequalification documents for construction packages on the $11bn scheme. Bowker joined Union Railway in September 2009, after a long career in the UK transport sector.

During 2008-09, he was vice-chairman of British Waterways, the firm responsible for maintaining inland waterways in the UK. Prior to this, he was group chief executive of National Express Group, a British transport group with headquarters in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services.

Other positions held by Bowker include chief executive of the government’s Partnerships for Schools initiative and chief executive of UK regulatory body, the Strategic Rail Authority, which was wound up in 2006.