The head of West Midlands transport authority Centro has announced he will step down after almost a decade in the role.
Chief executive Geoff Inskip has steered the public transport body since 2006 during which time it has overseen the expansion of the Midland Metro tram line and New Street station redevelopment.
He has more recently been lobbying for major transport links to tie in with the development of HS2.
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Mr Inskip is moving on at a time when the role of Centro might absorbed into the new regional combined authority - due to be established in April.
He was appointed director general of Centro in 2006, joining from Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and boasts more than three decades of experience in the transport sector.
He said: "It has been a great privilege to have led Centro for the last nine years.
"In particular, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with colleagues and friends at local authority partners, transport operators and, of course, members of the transport authority.
"Not only has Centro delivered improved public transport services for passengers but, more recently with the onset of HS2, we are already on course to deliver major extensions to the Midland Metro tram system and the Sprint rapid transit programme, to ensure we have the necessary local connections into HS2."
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He said the combined authority initiative, under which the West Midlands' seven councils hope to secure more powers and funding for transport from the Government, promises to deliver more service improvements for public transport users.
Transport Authority chairman Coun Roger Lawrence said: "I would like to put on record my thanks to Geoff for his tremendous service and to wish him all the best for the future.
"He has demonstrated an impressive track record of delivering major transport regeneration and passenger service improvements across the West Midlands.
"In particular, he's helped us to secure a number of high-profile and much-needed schemes from central government which have helped transform the public transport infrastructure across our area.
"These have included New Street station, the Wolverhampton and Stourbridge interchanges, a new fleet of class 172 trains, the Swift smartcard and the Metro extensions programme."