Anthony Smith will become the new Chair of Independent Rail Retailers when he leaves his role as Transport Focus‘ Chief Executive later this month.

Smith has headed Transport Focus and its predecessor bodies since 1999, tasked with amplifying the voice of rail users. This year, the passenger watchdog published a damning response to a consultation on plans to close ticket offices, which prompted the government to withdraw the plans. Transport Focus believes that under Smith’s leadership, “the organisation has gained a strong reputation for evidence-based campaigning and research to influence decisions and get the best deal for passengers”.

During his tenure, Smith has spoken out on issues from toilet charging to accessibility.

Smith is now moving from being the voice of passengers to a new role as the voice of private ticket sellers. Independent Rail Retailers (IRR) formed in 2017, and is the membership and lobbying group representing Britain’s independent ticket retailers, which between them take over four billion pounds in ticket sales each year.

IRR’s Chair for the last seven years has been Alistair Lees, who is the Managing Director of Assertis. During this period, ticket retailers have developed e-ticketing, barcode scanners and split ticketing, which uses algorithms to identify the cheapest combination of tickets for a passenger’s journey.

Anthony Smith is a qualified solicitor who began working in consumer affairs in 1989 when he joined the legal department of Which? magazine. He went on to work at ICSTIS, which was then the regulator of premium rate telephone services. He also worked at worldwide consumer group federation Consumers International. Smith is also chair of the Heathrow Area Transport Forum and a member of Affinity Water’s Independent Consumer Challenge Group.

IRR will release more details of the appointment in January.

Alistair Lees said, “It’s been a privilege to represent retailers, both large and small, and see them thrive, innovate and grow the market, despite the challenges of Covid. I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved so far, and look forward to working with Anthony to further raise the profile of independent retailers and the central role that they play as low cost, low risk rail growth partners.

“Anthony is a hugely respected figure within the rail industry who will ensure the customer continues to be at the heart of our decision making, whilst helping to create a level playing field through engagement with the wider rail industry and government.”