Bad news for fans of good Route MDs!
Dyan Crowther, MD of NR's LNW Route, confirmed at yesterday's meeting of the Rail Freight Group that she is now a 'freight geek'!
Eye hopes this isn't the end of a promising career.
No matter.
On the upside that leaves the RfG with only 9 more Route MDs to convince...
UPDATE: This from Loose Coupled...
I think you'll find that the new Sussex Route MD is already aligned...
Much delight amongst the Freighties!
It rather looks as if Tim Robinson, NR's Freight Director, has been appointed to the vacant Sussex Route MD post.
To paraphrase Saki: As good freight directors go, he went!
A hard act to follow, leaving an important role that will need filling PDQ.
This just in from Network Rail...
Jo Kaye, currently route managing director for the London North Western route, is to take up a newly-created, senior role reporting directly to board member, Paul Plummer, group strategy director. She will move into the role upon her return from maternity leave in June 2013.
Replacing Mrs Kaye will be Dyan Crowther, currently director, operational services. Mrs Crowther will work with Jo to ensure a smooth handover during the next six weeks.
Fiona Dolman, head of operational planning, will become interim director leading the operational services team while an announcement for a permanent replacement will be made in the near future.
Commenting on the changes, Paul Plummer said: "Jo will be an enormous asset to the strategy team bringing her years of operational and frontline experience to bear on a new challenge that will help to plot the strategic future of the business and the railway network."
"Jo’s planned return to work will coincide with the concluding stages of the periodic review and we will be looking to embed our plans for CP5 into the business. At the same time, we will be increasing our focus on longer-term planning of the railway working closely with our customers and other stakeholders."
Robin Gisby, director network operations, said: "Whilst I shall be sorry to lose Jo from my team, it is the right next move for her and will enhance the link between our business-facing leaders and our corporate strategy. Dyan is an experienced and well-respected operator who has done a great job in developing operational services and building customer relationships that have been central to making devolution work. Dyan is extremely well qualified to succeed Jo and take on the challenge of running our biggest route."
Ends
Timing as they say is everything...
Network Rail has announced the names of the remaining Route Managing Directors for its new devolved structure.
Reporting into Robin Gisby, managing director, Network Operations are:
This from Network Rail...
Route managing directors confirmed for more routes
With the next routes moving to a devolved structure in October 2011, new route managing directors for Kent & HS1, LNW and Wales have now been appointed. The new route managing director for Western has also been announced as a result of the changes in Wales. All roles will be designate until the routes go live.
Dave Ward has been appointed RMD, Kent & HS1; Jo Kaye, RMD LNW; Mark Langman, RMD Wales and, in due course, Patrick Hallgate will take up the role of RMD Western, which will no longer include Wales.
“We've seen some outstanding candidates for these roles,” said Robin Gisby, Managing Director, Network Operations.
Using an independent and objective approach, all candidates were assessed and rated against a comparable external benchmark, giving a clear picture of capability and potential for an RMD role.
“It's been a rigorous and challenging selection process,” he continued, “and I'm confident we have the right people to take up the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
- ENDS -
This from BR Old Timer...
Having just read the latest edition of Modern Railways I am intrigued by Roger Ford's reference to the possible privatisation of the Anglia Route by July 2014 -- conveniently just ahead of a general election (if the Coalition holds together).
After all, is not Anglia where it all began!
BR had plans for a new business-led vertically-integrated structure, and put them to the test by creating a new Anglia Region (in 1987/88, I think), bringing together the engineering functions with InterCity Anglia and NSE Anglia and LT&S — bringing together the passenger businesses and, of course, the Railfreight and RfD businesses, too, as they then were, to determine their engineering requirements and oversee the engineers' budgets.
John Edmonds was made Anglia's General Manager and Graham Eccles the Regional Operating Manager.
When the Tories won in 1992 they dismissed BR Chairman Sir Bob Reid II's 'Future Rail' proposals, proceeding instead to develop their privatisation plans. J Edmonds then became CEO of Railtrack, overseeing the concept that the company merely outsourced management and maintenance of the infrastructure, which started to go belly-up with the Southall and Ladbroke Grove collisions, then the Hatfield crash, and ultimately the Potters Bar derailment.
Strange to relate, the latest announcements on future restructuring of Network Rail were made just before NR indicated they would submit a guilty plea (as the successor to Railtrack) at the Crown Court to Health & Safety charges arising from the Potters Bar crash, following last year's much-delayed inquest.
Graham Eccles went on to become Divisional Manager on BR's South Central Division and then, after privatisation, was appointed MD of SWT, which has long argued for a return to vertical integration.
Now we are told the Wessex Route is to be one of the first two to be subjected to the new structure proposed by Network Rail, whose board now includes Graham Eccles as a Non-Executive Director — while brother Richard is employed by NR to mastermind the Route Utilisation Strategies.
Is the railways' future now to be Eccles' shaped?
This from Leo Pink...
I note that Network Rail is advertising for Managing Directors on its website.
Would not it make more sense to advertise for these new Regional Managing Directors in the Australian or Irish press, since those seem to be the countries of choice for ex British Rail senior managers who know how to run a railway?
Advertising in the UK press will only get applications from TOC directors (much to the annoyance of Philip Hammond) or people from other industries who think running a railway is easy (much to the annoyance of everyone else).
And we all recall where importing such thrusting new executives left Railtrack in days gone by...
Despite Petrol-head planning to restructure the industry with primary legislation Network Rail continues to try and seize the initiative.
The latest exciting development from the infrastructure controller will be unveiled today - devolved business units run by managing directors!
Based on NR's existing nine routes these new business units will see route managing directors, in effect, running their own infrastructure railway business with annual spending power of some £600m+, employing some 3,000 people.
Exciting news indeed and not before time.
Eye understands that NR has set itself a challenging pace to achieve these reforms, with the new MD roles advertised in the press today and two devolved routes (Scotland and Wessex) going live in April!
But is this all too little too late?
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