Board wrap: July 2025

Recent Customer Results

The Board expressed congratulations to everyone on our great customer results in FY 2024-25! 

THNSW delivered another strong year:

- Over 81,000 Visitors to our NSW Rail Museum and Valley Heights Locomotive Depot

- Over 102,000 Passengers enjoyed one of our many heritage transport journeys

- 92% Customer Satisfaction – affirming the delight and joy we bring to our customers doing what we do

The Board also congratulated the team on the great results over the July school holidays. Over the 16-day period, over 6,750 visited the NSW Rail Museum, and almost 6,000 also enjoyed a steam train ride on the Loop Line. More than 1,200 visitors also attended the Valley Heights Steam Fun Fest - a new record for the event.

The impressive number of visitors and passengers we have managed to sustain off the back of record growth in recent years is testament to the dedication, passion and teamwork that define us. Well done team!

Volunteer Company Secretary Appointment

I am pleased to announce that the Board has appointed Megan Lavender as our new Volunteer Company Secretary.

Megan joins us with considerable corporate governance and Board-level expertise. She is a seasoned company secretary who brings a wealth of experience across the private and public sectors. Megan sits on a number of Boards in differing capacities, and we are delighted that Megan expressed her interest in volunteering with our organisation in this important role.

New Culture Framework

After our extensive Culture Project work over the last year, our new Culture Framework is now ready to be rolled out across all areas of our THNSW workforce – staff and volunteers alike. 

Our culture framework is the blueprint that sets set out the internal culture we aspire to create. It defines our identity, beliefs, mission and purpose, and our values. Aligned with our strategic goals and the new strategic plan, our culture framework will shape how THNSW works together in bringing transport heritage to life.

I look forward to launching our new Culture Framework at a special event with our workforce team members next month.

New Strategic Plan

After further workshopping, the Board endorsed the draft of our new strategic plan, ready for consultation with our workforce and key stakeholders, including members. 

Stakeholder engagement and consultation will kick off with a Town hall presentation firstly to our workforce and members in August, including a video recording for those unable to attend in person on the day. This will be followed by the opportunity to provide further feedback and comments on our new strategic plan online. 

At the same time, THNSW will also consult with our key NSW Government stakeholders.

More information will soon follow on how you can attend the Town hall session and provide online input to help refine the final strategy.

The new plan will shape our future with purpose and ambition and bring strong alignment on our key priorities for the next five years. I look forward to welcoming all who can attend next month’s Town hall presentation, and to bringing our Strategic Plan 2025-2030 to life ready for its launch in November.

Board Subcommittee Appointments

Transport Heritage NSW has confirmed members and independent specialists to its board subcommittees.

The advisory subcommittees provide support and strategic advice to the THNSW Board in relation to specialist areas, including finance, curatorial, rail operations and organisational culture.

Safety & Environment Committee (SEC)

We welcome new independent members Ian Mash and Vanessa Weedon.

Finance Risk & Audit Committee (FR&AC)

We welcome returning member Andrew Elliott (Independent Member) and new member Ben Callaway (Independent Member).

Collections & Curatorial Committee (C&CC)

We welcome returning members, Brett Fitzpatrick (Member), Evan Rees (Member) and new members David Oram (Member), Andrew Pearce (Independent Member).

Congratulations to our new subcommittee members.

Valley Heights Site

Congratulations to the Valley Heights team on this year’s record-breaking Blue Mountains Steam FunFest!

The Board acknowledged the tremendous effort put in by everyone at site to achieve Stage 1 of the site works in time for this year’s FunFest.

General open days remain temporarily paused to give everyone enough time to focus now on Stage 2 of the works. Stage 2 will see other critical site areas addressed to improve the experience and working conditions for our people. 

The Board reiterated that ensuring the wellbeing of our team members remains the top priority, and the Board’s strong support for the work done by the local VH team in response.

The Board is establishing a joint Working Group tasked with identifying improvement opportunities and long-term options for site over the next six to nine months.

July has seen us get off to a great start for the new financial year. Let’s keep the momentum going and have a great year!

The Hon Nathan Rees

Chair