Hunt for new railway regulator as shake-up of ailing industry goes on
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Version 0 of 1. The Department for Transport is looking for a new chairman for the rail and roads regulator, the latest sweeping change to the leadership of the beleaguered rail industry. Anna Walker has chaired the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) since 2009, having been granted an 18-month extension to her five year fixed-term contract last summer. However, Ms Walker will not serve another full term, amid speculation that she suffered a “personality clash” with Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary. Mr McLoughlin pointedly refused to defend the regulator when he was questioned over state-backed Network Rail’s woes by the Transport Select Committee in July. He said: “I think we’ve all got a lot to learn from this process.” The ORR oversees Network Rail, which maintains and operates 20,000 miles of track, 32,000 bridges and tunnels, and 18 major stations, including London Bridge, Paddington, and King’s Cross, which have all been disrupted by engineering overruns. Mr McLoughlin has been angered by the state of the rail industry since Network Rail was brought on to the Government’s balance sheet, along with a debt burden expected to top £50bn by 2019, last year. This reclassification was enforced to meet European accounting rules. This summer the Transport Secretary in effect fired Network Rail’s chairman, Richard Parry-Jones, after “pausing” the electrification of the Midland mainline and the Transpennine route between Leeds and Manchester over spiralling costs. Mr McLoughlin replaced Mr Parry-Jones with Sir Peter Hendy, the Transport for London commissioner, who is reviewing Network Rail’s £38.5bn spending programme, which runs until 2019. The Transport Secretary also imposed a special director, former Eurostar chief executive and chairman Richard Brown, on to Network Rail’s board to keep a watch over the directors and report back directly to him. There have been rumours that Mark Carne, an oil industry veteran who became Network Rail’s chief executive last year, could also leave, but he and Mr Hendy have insisted that they get on well. Ms Walker ends her role at ORR at the end of the year. Her replacement would work two to three days a week. The role also involves monitoring Highways England, which looks after the most important roads. The search is being undertaken by headhunter Saxton Bampfylde. An ORR spokeswoman said: “Anna Walker was appointed for 2009-14. This was extended by 18 months to ensure there was continuity between [Network Rail’s five-year] funding periods. Anna felt any longer in the role was too long.” |