Latest Rail News

15.12.16

Higgins appointed as chair of Gatwick Airport

Sir David Higgins, the chair of HS2, has also been appointed as part-time chair of Gatwick Airport.

Sir David will officially take over the role from New Year’s Day, replacing the current chair, Sir Roy McNulty, who will stay on as deputy chair.

He will contribute 20-30 days a year to his post at Gatwick, while continuing to work at HS2 for three days a week.

Sir David left his post as chief executive of Network Rail to become chair of HS2 in 2014.

His additional appointment comes at a transitional time for the high-speed rail project. The HS2 Bill is currently passing through the House of Lords, and the phase 2 route has now been announced.

However, Simon Kirby resigned in September, leaving HS2 without a permanent chief executive. Meg Hillier MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, warned that Kirby’s resignation “adds to the uncertainty enveloping a project on which strong and stable leadership is vital”.

Sir Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, has been conducting a review this year to try to keep the project within its £55bn budget, and the opening of phase 1 could be postponed from 2026 to 2027.

Speaking to the Transport Select Committee on Monday, Sir David said that HS2 could be completed by 2030 if “cash constraints” were removed. He also suggested offering a bonus to incentivise Kirby’s replacement to stay with the project.

Welcoming his new appointment, Sir David said that Gatwick had made “remarkable” progress under Sir Roy’s leadership and there was a “very strong” case for expansion of the airport in the future.

HS2 confirmed that Sir David would remain at the company and that building work on the high-speed line is due to begin in spring 2017.

Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an RTM columnist? If so, click here. 

Comments

Graham Nalty   16/12/2016 at 17:46

Gatwick could be a very good post for Sir David Higgins as he will have had a lot of contact with politicians and the DfT in his roles at Network Rail and HS2.

Add your comment

Rail industry Focus

View all News

Comment

The challenge of completing Crossrail

05/07/2019The challenge of completing Crossrail

With a new plan now in place to deliver Crossrail, Hedley Ayres, National Audit Office manager, major projects and programmes, takes a look at ho... more >
Preparing the industry to deliver trains for the future

04/07/2019Preparing the industry to deliver trains for the future

The move to decarbonise the rail network involves shifting to cleaner modes of traction by 2050. David Clarke, technical director at the Railway ... more >

Most Read

'the sleepers' blog

On the right track, Sulzer is awarded RISAS accreditation for Nottingham Service Centre

29/06/2020On the right track, Sulzer is awarded RISAS accreditation for Nottingham Service Centre

Following an independent audit, Sulzer’s Nottingham Service Centre has been accepted as part of the rail industry supplier approval scheme (RISAS). The accreditation reinforces the high-quality standards that are maintained by Sulzer’s... more >
read more blog posts from 'the sleeper' >

Interviews

Andrew Haines, CE of Network Rail, tells BBC News his organisation could issue future rail franchises

24/06/2019Andrew Haines, CE of Network Rail, tells BBC News his organisation could issue future rail franchises

Andrew Haines, the Chief Executive of Network Rail, has told the Today programme on Radio 4's BBC’s flagship news programme that he would not rule out his organisation issuing future r... more >
Advancing the rail industry with management degree apprenticeships

08/05/2019Advancing the rail industry with management degree apprenticeships

In answering the pressing questions of how current and future generations of managers can provide solutions to high-profile infrastructure projects across the UK, Pearson Business School, part of... more >