A new leadership team has brought together c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia, enabling a closer alignment of both track and train across the East of England.
Marking an important step toward the establishment of Great British Railways (GBR); the new structure has been designed to provide better service for customers and communities, bringing all aspects under one team.
Leadership teams have been brought under one umbrella in a bid to better serve the region
© c2c, Greater Anglia, Network Rail Anglia
The move is expected to enable faster, more coordinated decision-making across the network, with benefits for both day-to-day service delivery and long-term planning of customer improvements.
Under public ownership, the integrated railway is hoped to be better placed to keep the railway open as much as possible when customers need it most – including through the use of more coordinated planning of engineering work and a stronger focus on minimising disruption.
With time, this new integrated approach to Anglian services is hoped to improve how services are planned and delivered day to day, resulting in a more reliable and consistent passenger experience. Thus far, the approach has been used on passenger and freight services across both South Eastern Railway and South Western Railway – both of which are now publicly owned and have similarly integrated teams.
Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, said:
c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia are showing exactly how public ownership is transforming the railways for good. Great British Railways will bring the management of train and track together, a vital part of ending the fragmentation that passengers have dealt with for far too long.
As we move towards GBR, leaders will work together to put passengers and freight at the centre of all planning and decision-making, and those travelling across East Anglia will now reap the benefits: less disruption, greater connectivity and improved reliability.
This is all part of our mission to build a passenger focused railway that supports jobs, growth and homes.
No immediate changes will be made to services, branding or the way customers travel, with c2c and Greater Anglia services set to continue as normal whilst work continues to bring teams closer together.
The new leadership team is as follows:
- Jamie Burles – Managing Director (former Deputy Managing Director of Network Rail, Eastern Region and former Managing Director of Greater Anglia)
- Martin Beable – Chief Operating Officer (former Managing Director of Greater Anglia)
- Rob Mullen – Chief Customer and Commercial Officer (former Managing Director of c2c)
- Louise Kavanagh – Finance Director (former Regional Finance Director of Network Rail Southern)
- Lee Parlett – Health, Safety, Security & Environment Director (former Senior Programme Manager (Route Safety) of Network Rail Anglia)
- Katy Bucknell – People Director (former HR Director of Greater Anglia)
- Chris Curtis – Planning & Performance Director (former Director Industry PMO & Network Performance of Network Rail/System Operator)
- Natalie Allen – Strategy & Change Director (former Programme Director (Transformation) of Network Rail Anglia)
- Natasha Grandison – Chief of Staff (former Chief of Staff of Greater Anglia)
- Henry Bates – Integration and Interim Communications Director (former Freight & Customer Director of Network Rail/System Operator)
Jamie Burles, Managing Director, said:
We are starting from a position of strength, with two of the best-performing train operators in the country and a strong Network Rail route. This is about building on that success and moving into the next phase, with joint objectives and joint solutions.
By bringing track and train together under one leadership team, we can plan better, respond faster and deliver an even more reliable railway for passengers.
Over time, that means better coordination during disruption, more effective planning of engineering work and a more consistent experience for customers and communities across the region.