Jonathan Dunster

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Jonathan Alexander ("Gus") Dunster (b. November 1968) is Managing Director of SVR(H) and General Manager of the Guarantee Company. He succeeded Helen Smith in March 2023 initially as interim MD, with his appointment on a permanent basis being confirmed in February 2024.[1]

Gus is married with two sons, and is a career railwayman having joined British Railways straight after leaving college in 1987. A Member of the Institution of Railway Operators, he held a number of operational management positions and in 2022 retired as Avanti West Coast Trains' Executive Director of Operations and Safety, becoming a consultant at the newly created R09 Consulting Ltd.

In 2024 he was presented with a The Railway Magazine Preservationist of the Year Award from the HRAHeritage Railway Association.

At the SVRSevern Valley Railway

He has been involved in railway preservation since 1988, joining the Railway in 1991 and having been an active volunteer ever since. He joined the SVRH board in February 2011 and is chair of the diesel committee. He was already its vice-chair when becoming the interim MD. At the time the Railway, like other attractions, faced drops in visitor numbers made worse by an economic downturn and cost-of-living crisis.[2]

Class 50s

He has a long history of involvement in Class 50 diesel-electric locomotives. He was a director in Class 50 Alliance Limited from 2000-2007 and 2008-2022 and is a director of 50031 Consortium Limited.

He also had an interest in BR Class 50 50026 Indomitable through a directorship in 50026 Restoration Group Limited from 2002-2009.

See also

References

Companies House

  1. SVR Announcement
  2. Branch Lines, January 2023