15.01.18
Network Rail: Carne doing a ‘terrific job’ and position not in danger
Network Rail officials have fired back over rumours that the organisation’s CEO is in danger of losing his job.
Reports in The Telegraph suggested that Carne could be under pressure from the government to leave his role because of slow progress and poor train performance, coupled with a reported £820,000 salary.
However, Network Rail’s chair Sir Peter Hendy has rubbished the claims, saying that Carne is an “exceptional leader” that will be in the job until he chooses to step down.
Hendy applauded Carne for his guidance during a difficult period for the country’s infrastructure manager, which included the transition to devolved routes across the network.
He also pointed out that transport secretary Chris Grayling had congratulated Network Rail on successfully completing the biggest programme of Christmas and New Year upgrades it has been involved in.
“We recognise train performance is not where we'd like it to be, but Network Rail's infrastructure is performing at record levels on a railway busier than it ever has been,” Hendy commented.
“It is for me and the board to hire and fire the CEO and we all know and recognise that Mark is doing a terrific job.
“I won't be advertising for any replacement until Mark tells me he wants to step down. Right now, he continues to drive Network Rail forward, to enable Britain's railway to deliver economic growth, jobs and housing.”
Former Shell executive vice president Carne took over his role at Network Rail in 2014, succeeding Sir David Higgins.
He has been known for a number of major policies while in his position, most recently a move to involve more private sector funding in infrastructure, a subject he wrote about for RTM last year.
Hendy will be also serving on the judging panel at this UKRIA 2018.
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