19.12.13
New Rail Delivery Group chairman announced
Stagecoach Group chief executive Martin Griffiths has been appointed as chairman of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).
Griffiths succeeds FirstGroup chief executive Tim O’Toole, who has been the RDG chairman since its creation in 2011.
He will start in the new role with immediate effect.
Griffiths said: “This is an important time for the future of the country's rail network. There are big challenges around costs and capacity, but also big opportunities for the whole country from a successful railway in helping drive economic growth.
“The rail industry, Government and other key stakeholders have a shared responsibility to deliver a better railway for Britain and I would like to thank Tim for the leadership he has shown over the past two-and-a-half years. The RDG, with its expanded and strengthened executive team, will be working even harder to champion improved services for both passengers and freight customers. At the same time, we will be at the heart of the push for better value throughout the industry for both rail users and taxpayers.”
O'Toole said: “Having met the challenge laid down in the McNulty Study by delivering work that is proving critical to achieving the industry savings for the next control period, we have recently achieved a new level of industry cooperation by combining resources from Network Rail, ATOC and the freight community to create a unified voice for the industry in the RDG.
“As Martin becomes the next chairman of the RDG, we all want to acknowledge Graham Smith's critical role in achieving this progress.”
The RDG has recently merged some of its functions with ATOC. The RDG’s director general is ATOC chief executive Michael Roberts.
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