Lee Chester

Lee is a solutions-focused Senior Engineering Manager with over 33 years of international experience in rolling stock project management engineering analysis and design, system safety, authorisation and fleet performance optimisation.

He joined Enigma Seven following four years in the middle east and Indian markets developing the flagship Railway projects for NEOM ‘The Line’. He has developed many projects, proposals, designs and bids across the rail industries in the Middle East, India, Europe, and the UK

Leadership
Lee is a strategic thinker and hands-on leader, able to influence board-level stakeholders while mentoring multi-disciplinary teams across design operations, maintenance, and asset management. Brings deep expertise in fleet safety governance, standards compliance, and the implementation of digital assurance tools, ensuring resilient, future-proof rolling stock operations. Lee has an acute understanding of the asset lifecycle of design, operation, and maintenance to deliver capacity and performance.

Experience
Prior to joining NEOM from Italferr in 2021 Lee has led the design projects for battery hybrid EMUs following successful introduction of the three multiple unit fleets from CAF to the UK rail networks.

His experience is well developed from manufacturing, design, analysis, systems engineering and assurance of many different types of rolling stock High Speed Passenger trains, freight locomotives, Metro and Yellow Plant equipment (and associated depot and stabling strategies).

Lee started his career in the railway industry as a shopfloor principle on the class 92 locomotive build with Bombardier (Wakefield), working through numerous assignments including the Class 325 bodyshell build, Picadilly Line refurbishment, Class 220/221 bogie design and analysis, VLU lead engineer and later the Mechanical (coupling) systems engineer for Gautrain and the Electrostar Class 376.

Lee then moved on to Brush Traction as the Group Mechanical Engineer, leading the Engineering teams through HST bogie overhauls and reclamation, IEP Power car design for Hitachi Rail, Class 373 power car modifications for Eurostar and Eureka upgrades for East Coast trains. He then moved to Lloyds Register where he focused on Project Management of NoBo and DeBo activities for a range of Electrostar builds, while leading the service streams for all rolling stock projects, with the responsibility for budget and client management. After three and a half years working across Spain and the UK delivering the new fleets of trains from CAF to Northern and Midland Mainline Lee then transferred to Birmingham where he worked on numerous technical solutions for Hybrid and Hydrogen train designs and corrosion repair project management with Gemini Rail.