Shaken and stirred - Franksy to Upside-downland

This from Eye's friends in the Emerald Isle…

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know after five enjoyable, exciting and challenging years, I will be leaving Iarnród Éireann in the coming months to take up a position in the public transport sector in Australia.

Since I joined Iarnród Éireann at the beginning of 2013, we have worked together through a most challenging financial era.  However it is an era of which all Iarnród Éireann colleagues can be proud, as we ensured a safe, progressive and customer-focused service was delivered.    Your support, commitment and professionalism have been invaluable both to me personally and to the organisation during that time.

There will be plenty of time to reflect further on, and thank you for, what we have achieved.  However, opportunities and challenges remain which we must face together, and my focus until I leave will remain on working with the entire Iarnród Éireann team in delivering our service to our customers and preparing Iarnród Éireann for a secure and sustainable future.

David Franks,
Chief Executive

Eye wonders whether IE will once again seek a replacement from mother railway?

Shaken and stirred - Murdoch to head NR Comms

A big Eye welcome to Caroline Murdoch, NR's Group Communications Director designate.

Caroline steps into the shoes vacated by Barney Wyld who left NR's top comms role for Rolls Royce last month.

Caroline currently works for the National Crime Agency, heading up the Corporate Affairs function. She has previously worked at the Met and TfL and brings over 20 years’ experience to Network Rail from national communications, public affairs, crisis communication management, marketing and internal communications within both public and private sectors.

Scot Marchbank continues as interim, until Caroline joins NR in late February/early March 2018.

Shaken and Stirred: Chaudhry-van der Velde MD West Midlands

This from Abellio/Mitsui...

Merseyrail’s Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde appointed Managing Director of West Midlands Trains
Merseyrail Deputy MD Andy Heath to succeed Jan at Merseyrail

Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde has today been appointed as Managing Director of West Midlands Trains, which will take over the next West Midlands franchise on 10 December. He joins from Merseyrail where he has been MD since 2015.

Prior to joining Merseyrail, Jan spent three years as Abellio UK’s Deputy MD. In this role he was a member of the Merseyrail board and played a critical role in the company’s successful bid for the ScotRail franchise.

Jan has also held a number of director roles outside of Abellio including Operations Director at South West Trains, Commercial Director at Southern and Operations & Retail Director at Thameslink. He first joined the sector in 1989 as a British Rail general management trainee.

Merseyrail’s new managing director will be Jan’s former deputy, Andy Heath. Andy first joined Merseyrail as Trains Manager in 1998 and has been Operations Director since 2005. 

He will be stepping into the role on 10 December, following Jan’s departure.

Shaken and stirred: DfT appoints 'Directors General' for Rail Group!

This announcement from the Department for Transport, via a number of chums…

Director General, Rail Group
Polly Payne and Ruth Hannant have been appointed as Directors General for Rail Group, joining DfT from the Department for Education where they currently lead the Government’s work on Higher Education reform. 

Polly and Ruth are a very well established job-share team who together bring extensive commercial, financial and strategic policy experience to DfT, having worked in a range of roles in HM Treasury, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and UK Government Investments.

(Having had first-hand experience of colleagues undertaking a job-share role, this can work really well. And impressive that the DfT is prepared to create our first ever Directors General. 

More importantly the connection with the Department for Education will be especially valuable as the industry collectively seeks to improve skills and diversity, which will need the active support of the DfE. 

This is beginning to look inspired! Ed).

Director General, Resources and Strategy
After 6 months as Acting DG for Rail - Nick Joyce will be taking up the role as Director General, Resources and Strategy. He will succeed Jonathan Moor who is leaving DfT in December to go on secondment to the Canadian Government as Chief Financial Officer for the Canadian Border Services Agency.

Building on his experience both as Director of Corporate Finance and as Acting DG for Rail, Nick has been asked to strengthen and lead DfT's shareholding function for Network Rail, High Speed 2 Limited and Highways England.

Precise timings of handover will be determined shortly, but we expect that Ruth, Polly and Nick will be in post before the end of the year.

Director General, High Speed Rail and Major Projects

Clive Maxwell was appointed as Director General, High Speed Rail and Major Projects earlier this month. Clive will formally take up his role on 20th November.

Clive joins DfT from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, where he has held the role of Director General, Energy Transformation since 2014. He has extensive experience of working across Government, including leading work in HM Treasury in response to the financial crisis, and on consumer and competition issues at the Office of Fair Trading.

Clive’s experience of infrastructure, regulation and delivery of complex programmes will be an asset to the Department. His recent responsibilities include overseeing a number of Government Major Projects, including on Smart Meters and Heat Networks, as well as leading wide-ranging policy on energy and tackling climate change.

As well as HS2, Clive will lead our work with Transport for the North on Northern Powerhouse Rail, and be responsible for East West Rail as well as working with Transport for London on the Crossrail 2 project.

(Another example of a helpful flow of talent between BEIS and DfT, both departments having a common interest in the success of the railway's supply chain. Ed)

Non-Executive Team
DfT have also been refreshing our Non-Executive team and the Prime Minister and Secretary of State have approved the following appointments to the DfT Board:

• Ian King, CEO of BAE Systems from 2008 to 2017, to succeed Ed Smith as DfT Lead Non-Executive.
• Richard Keys, Director of Merrill Lynch International and previously Senior Global Chief Accountant at PWC. Currently Non-Executive Director at NATS and Wessex Water. 
• Tracey Westall, Executive Director at SCC (Specialist Computer Centres) and Non-Executive Director on Innovation Birmingham, TechUK and Governor of Birmingham City University.
• Richard Aitken-Davies, an independent consultant with wide experience in Executive and Non-Executive roles in the infrastructure sector in particular in rail and electricity.

Ian, Richard, Tracey and Richard will join Tony Poulter to make up the Department’s Non-Executive team, and we expect them to take these roles from early-November.

All in all, much to be pleased with here. Good effort.

Shaken and stirred - Leathley to London TravelWatch

This from the London Assembly...

New Chair of London TravelWatch appointed by Assembly
The London Assembly today announced the appointment of Arthur Leathley as the new Chair of London TravelWatch[1], the statutory watchdog for transport users in and around London.

Arthur has senior level experience as a communications director in the private sector and Whitehall. In particular, he spent nine years at Virgin Trains, during a time of great change in which customer satisfaction became the best in the rail industry. Prior to that, he worked as a political and transport journalist at The Times, covering many of the key debates affecting London transport.

Arthur Leathley, newly appointed Chair of London TravelWatch, said:

“The views of millions of transport users in London are crucial and I am excited to represent consumers during a time of very positive change. Travelling in the capital is likely to be transformed beyond recognition over the coming years and London TravelWatch will ensure that the interests of the travelling public are always put first. The need for an effective consumer champion has never been greater and I look forward to building on the work of the previous Chair, Stephen Locke.”

The appointment was made by the Transport Committee on behalf of the London Assembly.

Older hands will remember Arthur was previously communications director at Virgin Trains, before undertaking various roles across Whitehall.

Shaken and stirred: Veitch brings Talgo to the British Isles

This via twitter...

Today we are delighted to announce that Jon Veitch joins the Talgo team as Key Account Manager for the UK and Irish markets. Welcome,@J70JDV pic.twitter.com/SfFcrGWj3s

— Talgo (@TalgoGroup) September 4, 2017

Eye would normally have linked to the press release on the company's website, rather than reposting a tweet, allowing readers to savour all the details...

Alas - still nothing posted yet.

Looks like an ever expanding remit for Mr Veitch!

Shaken and stirred - Mary Grant to Porterbrook

This from Porterbrook...

Porterbrook Leasing has confirmed the appointment of Mary Grant as its new chief executive officer. Mary will be joining the company and its board on 13 September 2017. She takes over from Paul Francis, the retiring CEO who has been with Porterbrook for over 20 years.

Mary has over 20 years’ experience working in the UK and international transport sector including senior roles at FirstGroup, National Express and Eurostar International.

Phil White, chairman of Porterbrook said: “Mary has an excellent reputation within the transport sector and I am looking forward to working with her and welcoming her onto the board. Mary’s experience and knowledge of the industry will be a great asset to the company.”

Interesting!

Shaken and stirred: New South Western directors

This from First/MTR...

FirstGroup unveiled the senior management team for the new South Western train operating company today, ahead of the franchise starting on Sunday 20 August.

In addition to Andy Mellors, previously announced as Managing Director, several senior directors have now been appointed. The senior team at the new South Western rail franchise contains a wealth of railway experience and brings experience in customer service from a world-leading airline.

Jacqui Dey has been appointed as Operations Director with responsibility for the driver, resourcing, planning, performance and operational standards teams.  Jacqui has previously held senior rail leadership roles, including Operations and Safety Director at First ScotRail. 

Gerard O’Hanlon, from FirstGroup’s franchise bidding team, will provide additional support to Jacqui, particularly in relation to planning and performance activities where we will continue to operate joint teams with Network Rail.

Neil Drury, who led the rolling stock planning in the successful South Western franchise bid, has been appointed as Engineering Director.  Neil is a Chartered Engineer who joined FirstGroup in 2004. He has had a number of roles in First Rail franchises, including Head of Engineering at First Capital Connect, prior to joining FirstGroup’s franchise bidding team in 2014. 

Alan Penlington joins from Virgin Atlantic as Customer Experience Director to lead the on-board, stations and revenue protection teams. He brings valuable experience to help transform customer experience having most recently been Head of Cabin Crew Operations and Senior Manager Customer Experience-Innovation at the transatlantic airline. 

Joost Noordewier will be Commercial and Business Development Director. Joost joined FirstGroup in 2005 and led FirstGroup’s successful bid for the TransPennine Express franchise, as well as the subsequent mobilisation of the franchise. 

Chris Cornthwaite has been appointed as Finance Director. He brings a wealth of experience to the new franchise having previously been Finance Director at First Capital Connect, as well as a number of roles supporting franchise development within FirstGroup.

Seamus Scallon, Safety Director, First Rail, will act as Safety, Sustainability and Security Director, pending a permanent appointment into this role.

Eye notes that none of the existing Stagecoach senior team are transferring over to the new First/MTR franchise.

That sound? That is the sound of corporate knowledge trickling away...

Shaken and stirred: Paul Francis

This from the Rail Forum...

Announcement from Rail Forum chair, Paul Francis:

"Some of you may be aware that I have announced my forthcoming retirement as CEO of Porterbrook Leasing.

“This will not take place immediately and therefore it is my intention, subject to the agreement of the RFEM executive, to continue as Rail Forum Chairman until our 2018 AGM.

“These are exciting times for our industry and especially the rail supply chain in the East Midlands, I want to continue as your Chairman so that we can work with government and regional stakeholders to capitalise on the huge investment that is being poured into both Classic and High Speed Rail, as well as the opportunities created through Brexit...

“I have no immediate date for leaving Porterbrook as I will be working very closely with Porterbrook’s Chairman and shareholders in the coming months as we appoint a successor as CEO. I will of course provide a further update once the name of my successor at Porterbrook has been announced.”

Interesting.

What is that sound?

That is the sound of industry CVs being polished.

Shaken and stirred - NR Silver Ghost off to Royces

This from Rolls-Royce...

Rolls-Royce today announces the appointment of Barney Wyld as Director, Corporate Affairs. Barney will join Rolls-Royce later this year in a new enhanced role.

Barney is currently Group Director, Corporate Communications at Network Rail. He is responsible for all internal and external communications, public affairs and community contact and relations. Barney joined Network Rail from Unilever where he was Global Vice President, Communications. He was initially responsible for global media relations and digital channels and, after that, global employee engagement and stakeholder campaigns. Barney began his career as a speechwriter for a frontbench MP in the UK parliament.

Barney will leave Network Rail in 'about five months time'.

Of course, as any ful kno, some of Royces most important engineering facilities are to be found in Derby - which just happens to be the city at the Heart of the Railway industry!

Yet further proof, should it be needed, that all roads ultimately lead to the Shire. That is all.

Shaken and stirred: Andy Mellors

This from First Group...

FirstGroup and MTR announce that Andy Mellors has been appointed as Managing Director of the new South Western rail franchise, which launches on 20 August.

Andy Mellors has 25 years of experience in the industry. He has held a number of senior leadership roles since joining FirstGroup in 2002 and is currently Engineering Director and Deputy Managing Director at Great Western Railway, having previously held a similar role at First ScotRail. 

A good appointment and a loss to Great Western Railway

Shaken and stirred: Long appointed CEO G&W (Freightliner)

This from Freightliner...

LONDON – Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) today announced the appointment of Gary R. Long as Chief Executive Officer of its UK/Europe operating region, which is led by the UK’s Freightliner. He succeeds Russell Mears, who will transition to the role of Senior Advisor in the third quarter of 2017.

Long was President and CEO of the North American freight railroad holding company OmniTRAX, Inc., prior to joining G&W in 2013. He has nearly 35 years of transportation industry experience, including roles related to rail, motor carrier, port, maritime and intermodal terminals, and currently heads one of G&W’s U.S. operating regions. “Gary’s strong operational, commercial and management background in the rail, trucking and maritime industries make him particularly well suited to lead G&W’s UK/Europe businesses,” says Jack Hellmann, G&W Chairman, President and CEO.

Eye welcomes the news of Mears' 'transition'. Whatever that may mean.

Shaken and stirred: Caledonian Sleeper

Eye understands that there is a new MD at Caledonian Sleeper!

Although it is Keith Wallace who has been appointed, rather than his namesake William.

Current incumbent Peter Strachan has been promoted to Chairman of Serco Rail UK!

Shaken and stirred: Graham Coombs

Eye hears that Graham Coombs is departing RIA.

After two decades as Communications Director at the Railway Industry Association (the UK's supply chain trade association) Coombs has decided he's had enough of erecting stands at exhibitions!

Speaking exclusively to Eye, Coombs said:

“I can’t grumble at a job that has taken me everywhere from Blackpool to Beijing, but it is time for a change. 20 years of supporting suppliers is more than enough for anyone.

"Now isn't it your round old man?" 

Coombs, a former BR Board Press Officer, has accumulated an astonishing 36 years of rail PR experience since he joined the Southern Region Public Relations and Publicity Office in 1981.

Colleagues who wish to see Graham off in 'old railway' style can find him on or about the RIA stand at Railtex this week.

Shaken and stirred: Ross to Scotrail

This from The Herald...

David Ross, one of the most senior figures in [Labour leader, Kezia] Dugdale’s team, will leave after June 8th to join transport firm Scotrail on a temporary basis.

His social media biography describes him as “official spokesman” to Ms Dugdale and states: “I am a senior staff member in the Scottish Labour Party's communications team, reporting directly to the leader.”

A big gain for Scotrail, but the timing of the announcement is interesting, just before the local and general elections.

Shaken and Stirred: Nick Joyce takes on DG Rail role

Nick Joyce is the acting Director General, Rail Group, at the DfT

Previous incumbent Bernadette Kelly took on the role of DfT Permanent Secretary on the 18th of April.

Joyce became acting DG Rail on the 25th April, and was previously DfT's Corporate Finance Director.

Fans of the West Coast Franchise fiasco will remember Joyce as a safe pair of hands, after the event.

Presumably this dreadful photograph of Nick, from the equally dreadful gov.uk website, was taken at that time? (Why do DfT insist on publishing awful photos of officials on their own website? Ed)

It will be interesting to see how quickly this key role is filled with a permanent appointment.

Shaken and Stirred - RDG's Quigley and new arrival Thomas

Word reaches Eye of some changes at the Rail Delivery Group.

Christine Quigley, Head of Public Affairs, has been poached by Keolis as their new Director of Communications. Prior to joining RDG Christine was special advisor to then Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Mary Creagh. In her spare time Christine treads the boards as a stand-up comedian (Shurely a mandatory skill for anyone in railway comms? Ed). Christine starts her new role at Keolis in June.

John Thomas will join RDG as new Policy Director in July. John has railway form, from 2001 to 2011 he was an economist at ORR. Most recently he has been in the Middle East developing new railway networks across the region and has advised the World Bank.

Presumably the arrival of Thomas at RDG will be causing palpitations in One Kemble Street?

Shaken and stirred: Tonkin, Pitt and Rollin...

A quick round up of new appointments in today's glorious railway.

David Tonkin, fresh from being Acting General Manager of the Railway Industry Association, has now been appointed Chairman. David was previously CEO at Atkins. He replaces Gordon Wakeford (who remains Chair of the Rail Supply Group). In his new role David will continue to work alongside RIA CEO Darren Caplan. RIA press release, here.

Andy Pitt has become a NED at Porterbrook Leasing. Andy has had many a varied role in the railway industry, including MD of SWT and latterly Executive Chairman of Cross London Trains which is procuring and leasing new rolling stock for the operator of the Thameslink franchise. In addition Andy is also a Non Executive Director of Transport Systems Catapult. Porterbrook press release, here.

Eye understands that James Rollin has moved into the consultancy world. He was previously Head of PR and Marketing at Bombardier UK.

The Shaken and Stirred section of Eye is always interested in hearing about new appointments, at the usual address.