Network Rail has appointed Ismail Amla and Stephen Duckworth OBE as non-executive directors to its board, effective from 1 April 2021.

Amla and Duckworth have considerable experience in both the public and private sectors, and join the Network Rail board having held various senior positions in Britain and abroad.

Having lived in the USA for nearly a decade, Amla has extensive international experience helping leading brands and disruptive start-ups across multiple industries, including rail infrastructure, leverage emerging technologies. He is currently the chief growth officer at Capita, having previously led the North American Services business for IBM out of New York. 

Prior to IBM, Amla was CEO for the consulting firm Capco in North America, and before that was a member of the leadership team for Accenture in the UK. He is passionate about harnessing the power of diversity and in ensuring that technology is used as a force for good in bridging inequality.

Duckworth founded and ran Disability Matters Limited, a research and consultancy business with expertise in health and safety, sustainability and diversity with an emphasis on access and mobility.

He sits on the boards of several organisations and has held numerous advisory roles to government, in addition to an extensive body of international work across various EU states, the US, China, New Zealand, Australia, India, South Africa and the Middle East. He has also been listed in the Power 100 of the most influential disabled people in Britain.

As a wheelchair user who regularly travels by train, Duckworth has a keen interest in the railway and accessibility, and has previously carried out consultancy work with Southwest Trains and Eurostar.

Sir Peter Hendy, chair of Network Rail, said: “I am pleased to welcome Ismail and Stephen, and the board and I look forward to the important contributions they will make to the organisation in the months and years ahead.”

The secretary of state for transport has also agreed to Network Rail re-appointing two current non-executive directors on the board – Mike Putnam (effective from December 2020) and David Noyes (effective from June 2021).