Derbyshire takes new role at NR
Network Rail created a new role for London South East on July 1, when it appointed Andy Derbyshire as chief operating officer for the route.
Derbyshire is currently Business Unit Director Metro & Rail Franchising for Amey plc. He is a chartered engineer and has previously held senior roles at Transport for London, Bombardier, Alstom and Virgin.
He starts with NR in the next few weeks, with no exact date mentioned. NR said his role was to “strengthen the daily focus on delivering a safe and more reliable operating performance”.
Meanwhile, the South East Route Managing Director Alasdair Coates is leaving NR after 18 months. He will be replaced by current Wessex RMD John Halsall. Stuart Kistruck, currently route asset management director for Wessex, will replace Halsall in an interim basis.
Phil Hufton, NR managing director, England and Wales, said of Coates: “Alasdair has made some good progress in improving the reliability of the railway infrastructure on the South East Route. However, overall performance continues to struggle on the route, and more progress needs to be made to support the return of the train service to acceptable levels of punctuality and reliability. The creation of a new chief operating officer role will bring an even greater focus to the daily delivery of a better train service.”
The South East Route includes London Victoria, Cannon Street, Charing Cross and London Bridge stations. It also maintains and operates HS1 under contract, and its stations at St Pancras, Stratford and Ebbsfleet.