Associate Member Profile | Colliers Project Leaders
Posted onCOLLIERS PROJECT LEADERS: WORKING TO MAKE CANADIAN RAIL SAFER AND MORE EFFICIENT
Having grown up in Calgary, Kim Turner remembers walking with her father along sections of the Bow River with rail lines running nearby.
She recalls hearing of a family friend who lived in Winnipeg and worked as an electrical engineer for a rail company and wondering ‘why does a rail company need electrical engineers?’
Now, Turner, a civil engineer by training (who also holds an MBA), has her answer.
As a senior project manager with Colliers Project Leaders, she works with professionals of all kinds with rail clients across Canada.
“Each client has its own style, and each project has its own requirements, but we bring a consistent approach to solving problems and creating value,” says Turner of Colliers Project Leaders’ project management and advisory services.
She adds: “Our approach is to integrate within our clients’ practices and procedures to ensure projects are a success. We adapt and change to become an essential part of their team.”
Turner is one of the people rail companies will work with if they retain Colliers Project Leaders, as many do.
For Colliers Project Leaders, which recently joined the Railway Association of Canada as an associate member, heavy and light rail is a growing part of the business.
“We’re constantly looking at all aspects of a project. We anticipate and mitigate risks, apply lessons learned, and incorporate strategies to ensure our clients’ projects are successful.”
Navigating rail’s regulatory complexities to focus on project delivery is a big reason Colliers Project Leaders is drawn to the industry, Turner says. So is rail companies’ commitment to safety.
“The safety culture within rail organizations is truly phenomenal,” Turner says. “That’s absolutely part of the reason we are excited to join the RAC.”
Turner says Colliers Project Leaders’ project management and advisory services have helped rail companies root-out inefficiencies by standardizing daily inspection sheets, focusing meeting agendas, and more – all, she says, with safety at the forefront.
“The safety component is #1 up through the chain – from capacity-building to new build projects.”
Whenever Turner visits a rail project and a train passes on a track, she’s struck by how everyone stops to watch the passing vehicles and keeps eyes open for any potential safety issues.
She says she is immediately transported back to those riverside walks with her father and reflects on her journey to become part of the industry that has fascinated so many for so long.
Colliers Project Leaders is the Railway Association of Canada’s newest associate member. To learn more about their services and their dedicated transit and transportation practice, visit their website.