Alex Hynes

As part of my Economics degree I studied Transport Economics and did my final dissertation on franchising and the UK passenger railway. This resulted in me getting a job as a transport consultant and the rest is history!

I applied to Leeds through clearing because I flunked my A-levels! Economics was always my strongest subject at school. Many of the Economics lecturers were from ITS and hence the interest in transport economics was born.

I think Economics is a great subject to study as it sits on the cusp of arts and science, and helps you understand the way economies work.         

The highlight of my career so far has been turning around Northern Rail. When I joined as Managing Director in 2013 we were the worst train operating company in Great Britain! 2.5 years later we delivered our highest-ever levels of customer satisfaction, employee engagement and stakeholder satisfaction. It was an exhilarating experience!

I used the university career service like everyone else but I grew up wanting to be an airline pilot. Thankfully, I discovered transport economics because I would have made a rubbish airline pilot! Halcrow Fox, the consultancy I joined after university, specifically targeted students from ITS because of its reputation.