Proposed Operating Model information

Since the Transport cluster formed in 2011, we’ve made huge progress and worked together to deliver improvements across the roads and public transport network.

  • We’ve built and opened new infrastructure, introduced new services and put a real focus on the customer that’s helped drive a sustained increase in satisfaction.
  • Patronage on public transport continues to increase, which places pressure on our networks, but it’s also a great sign of confidence and a key measure of how successful we’ve been.
  • But over that time our external environment has changed rapidly – new technologies, new modes and new service models have emerged and we now have a cluster-wide Future Transport strategy to deliver.
  • There’s also been a shift in customer needs and expectations. Increasingly, customers are becoming ‘mode agnostic’ which means they are focused on their journey from one point to another, not a journey on a single mode.
  • Our cluster is currently built around individual modes of transport, which makes it more challenging to be multi-modal in our thinking.

All of this means that to deliver better outcomes for customers and communities, we need to make changes to ensure we not only respond to what’s happening now, but to set ourselves up to be successful into the future.

How are we going to change?

We now have the opportunity to build on our success and take the delivery of integrated, customer-centred services to the next level. To do this we need make important changes to the way we work with each other, transport providers and communities across three key areas:

  1. Operate and work differently together
    A key ingredient is having the right structure in place to work more closely together, focusing on the different needs of urban and regional NSW in a holistic way.

  1. Be smarter with taxpayers’ money
    We need to be smarter with the way we use taxpayers’ money and recover more of the costs for running our services, which will be reinvested to improve customer services and technologies.

  2. Focus on our people
    We will also be focused on improving your experience of working at Transport by making it a place where everyone can listen, act, think and lead for the benefit of customers and communities.

What's changing?

Our new operating model will be organised around the customer, better supporting integrated services delivery and giving greater focus to the different transport needs of urban and regional areas.


The following new divisions will be established:

Leaders have been selected for our new divisions and have been announced by Secretary, Rodd Staples. A short summary is below but please make sure you read the full announcement and updated Q&As for more information.

Leadership team for new operating model

Urban division – Elizabeth Mildwater, Deputy Secretary.

This division will integrate transport modes to deliver customer-centred services and infrastructure for the Sydney metropolitan area.

Regional division – Matt Fuller, Acting Deputy Secretary.

This division will focus on understanding the particular needs of regional communities across NSW and deliver customer-centred integrated transport services and infrastructure.

Customer Strategy and Technology division – Rachel Wheeler, Acting Deputy Secretary.

This division will develop long-term strategy across urban and regional areas and leverage new technology and insights to provide more integrated customer-centred solutions.

Infrastructure and Place division – Peter Regan, Deputy Secretary.

This division will deliver infrastructure solutions that create and connect great places and will be aligned to the new model.

Corporate Services division – Anne Hayes, Deputy Secretary.

This division will provide effective corporate services and be aligned to the new model.

People and Culture division – Kirsten Watson, Acting Chief People Officer.

To ensure our people remain at the heart of our how we implement these changes, the People and Culture team from within the Corporate Services Division will form a new division reporting directly to Rodd Staples.

Regulation division - discussions are progressing on who will lead the new Regulation division.

This division will provide regulatory and compliance services across modes to ensure the safe operation of our networks.

Office of the Secretary – Alison Cunningham, Executive Director.

Point to Point Transport Commissioner–Barbara Wise will remain as Commissioner until recruitment for the role, which began earlier this year, is finalised.


Chief Executives Howard Collins (Sydney Trains), Steffen Faurby (STA) and Jon Lamonte (Sydney Metro) remain in their current roles and respective agencies in the Urban division.

Pete Allaway will be Acting Chief Executive of NSW TrainLink in the Regional division.

Marg Prendergast will continue as Coordinator General, and leading Transport Coordination. Elizabeth Mildwater will work with Marg to prepare a proposal for how Transport Coordination will function in the Urban division.

Any roles defined above as acting will be filled through relevant selection processes over the coming months.

The divisional leaders will work with Executive Directors and other senior leaders from across the Transport cluster on how our teams could align to our new operating model. For example, Rodd has asked Jeff McCarthy, Executive Director Technical and Project Services in RMS, to work as a deputy to Peter Regan to prepare a proposal that brings together the strengths from across RMS and TfNSW for the new Infrastructure and Place division.

To ensure an orderly, people focused transition to the new operating model we are establishing a co-located, multi-disciplinary Transformational Office and more information will be provided as this develops.


Operating agencies and existing divisions will be integrated into the new model

  • Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink, Sydney Metro and State Transit will remain standalone agencies working closely with the Urban or Regional Transport Divisions to drive better end to end journeys for customers.
  • Roads and Maritime Services, Customer Technology and Services Division, Freight, Strategy and Planning Division and the Transport Coordination Division will be integrated into the new model.
  • There are no changes to NSW Point to Point Transport Commission, NSW Port Authority and the Office of Transport Safety Investigation.


Proposed transition map

The below high level timeframe gives an overview of the focus for each phase and the next steps in the transition to the new operating model.





Proposed transition of teams to the new divisions on 1 July

The below is an overview of how the TfNSW and RMS teams will transition to the new divisions. All leaders of teams will have new reporting lines in place on 1 July, and the leaders of the remaining divisions (Alison Cunningham, Anne Hayes and Regulation to be confirmed) will begin their new roles on 1 July.


Note: Click on images to enlarge.

More information and support

Since the Transport cluster formed in 2011, we’ve made huge progress and worked together to deliver improvements across the roads and public transport network.

  • We’ve built and opened new infrastructure, introduced new services and put a real focus on the customer that’s helped drive a sustained increase in satisfaction.
  • Patronage on public transport continues to increase, which places pressure on our networks, but it’s also a great sign of confidence and a key measure of how successful we’ve been.
  • But over that time our external environment has changed rapidly – new technologies, new modes and new service models have emerged and we now have a cluster-wide Future Transport strategy to deliver.
  • There’s also been a shift in customer needs and expectations. Increasingly, customers are becoming ‘mode agnostic’ which means they are focused on their journey from one point to another, not a journey on a single mode.
  • Our cluster is currently built around individual modes of transport, which makes it more challenging to be multi-modal in our thinking.

All of this means that to deliver better outcomes for customers and communities, we need to make changes to ensure we not only respond to what’s happening now, but to set ourselves up to be successful into the future.

How are we going to change?

We now have the opportunity to build on our success and take the delivery of integrated, customer-centred services to the next level. To do this we need make important changes to the way we work with each other, transport providers and communities across three key areas:

  1. Operate and work differently together
    A key ingredient is having the right structure in place to work more closely together, focusing on the different needs of urban and regional NSW in a holistic way.

  1. Be smarter with taxpayers’ money
    We need to be smarter with the way we use taxpayers’ money and recover more of the costs for running our services, which will be reinvested to improve customer services and technologies.

  2. Focus on our people
    We will also be focused on improving your experience of working at Transport by making it a place where everyone can listen, act, think and lead for the benefit of customers and communities.

What's changing?

Our new operating model will be organised around the customer, better supporting integrated services delivery and giving greater focus to the different transport needs of urban and regional areas.


The following new divisions will be established:

Leaders have been selected for our new divisions and have been announced by Secretary, Rodd Staples. A short summary is below but please make sure you read the full announcement and updated Q&As for more information.

Leadership team for new operating model

Urban division – Elizabeth Mildwater, Deputy Secretary.

This division will integrate transport modes to deliver customer-centred services and infrastructure for the Sydney metropolitan area.

Regional division – Matt Fuller, Acting Deputy Secretary.

This division will focus on understanding the particular needs of regional communities across NSW and deliver customer-centred integrated transport services and infrastructure.

Customer Strategy and Technology division – Rachel Wheeler, Acting Deputy Secretary.

This division will develop long-term strategy across urban and regional areas and leverage new technology and insights to provide more integrated customer-centred solutions.

Infrastructure and Place division – Peter Regan, Deputy Secretary.

This division will deliver infrastructure solutions that create and connect great places and will be aligned to the new model.

Corporate Services division – Anne Hayes, Deputy Secretary.

This division will provide effective corporate services and be aligned to the new model.

People and Culture division – Kirsten Watson, Acting Chief People Officer.

To ensure our people remain at the heart of our how we implement these changes, the People and Culture team from within the Corporate Services Division will form a new division reporting directly to Rodd Staples.

Regulation division - discussions are progressing on who will lead the new Regulation division.

This division will provide regulatory and compliance services across modes to ensure the safe operation of our networks.

Office of the Secretary – Alison Cunningham, Executive Director.

Point to Point Transport Commissioner–Barbara Wise will remain as Commissioner until recruitment for the role, which began earlier this year, is finalised.


Chief Executives Howard Collins (Sydney Trains), Steffen Faurby (STA) and Jon Lamonte (Sydney Metro) remain in their current roles and respective agencies in the Urban division.

Pete Allaway will be Acting Chief Executive of NSW TrainLink in the Regional division.

Marg Prendergast will continue as Coordinator General, and leading Transport Coordination. Elizabeth Mildwater will work with Marg to prepare a proposal for how Transport Coordination will function in the Urban division.

Any roles defined above as acting will be filled through relevant selection processes over the coming months.

The divisional leaders will work with Executive Directors and other senior leaders from across the Transport cluster on how our teams could align to our new operating model. For example, Rodd has asked Jeff McCarthy, Executive Director Technical and Project Services in RMS, to work as a deputy to Peter Regan to prepare a proposal that brings together the strengths from across RMS and TfNSW for the new Infrastructure and Place division.

To ensure an orderly, people focused transition to the new operating model we are establishing a co-located, multi-disciplinary Transformational Office and more information will be provided as this develops.


Operating agencies and existing divisions will be integrated into the new model

  • Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink, Sydney Metro and State Transit will remain standalone agencies working closely with the Urban or Regional Transport Divisions to drive better end to end journeys for customers.
  • Roads and Maritime Services, Customer Technology and Services Division, Freight, Strategy and Planning Division and the Transport Coordination Division will be integrated into the new model.
  • There are no changes to NSW Point to Point Transport Commission, NSW Port Authority and the Office of Transport Safety Investigation.


Proposed transition map

The below high level timeframe gives an overview of the focus for each phase and the next steps in the transition to the new operating model.





Proposed transition of teams to the new divisions on 1 July

The below is an overview of how the TfNSW and RMS teams will transition to the new divisions. All leaders of teams will have new reporting lines in place on 1 July, and the leaders of the remaining divisions (Alison Cunningham, Anne Hayes and Regulation to be confirmed) will begin their new roles on 1 July.


Note: Click on images to enlarge.

More information and support

Page last updated: 23 May 2019, 09:47 AM