NETWORK Rail has announced the appointment of Liam Sumpter as MD of the organisation in Scotland.
The news follows the recent announcement that Alex Hynes, who held the role for the past seven years, has been seconded to the role of director general of rail services at the Department for Transport for a period of two years.
Beginning his career in the engineering, innovation, and examination team at Railtrack in 2002, Liam went on to spend several years working across finance and maintenance functions before being appointed as area director for the West Midlands and Chilterns in 2013.
He then spent nearly three years with Arriva Rail North as its regional director, before returning to Network Rail as the chief operation officer and more latterly, route director for Scotland.
Commenting on his appointment, Liam said, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to undertake the position of MD for Network Rail in Scotland.
“Working as route director for the past five years has been deeply rewarding. We have a great team here in Scotland, and I am confident that together, we can continue to fulfil our main objective to run a reliable and safe railway.
“Network Rail Scotland is fully committed to continued collaborative working with ScotRail, Scottish Rail Holdings, and Transport Scotland to further develop our best for Scotland’s Railway approach. Over the coming months our focus will be on enhancing our ways of working together in order that we can strengthen and update our alliance agreement, build on our previous successes, such as the joint integrated control in Glasgow, which is one of the first of its kind in the UK railway, and effectively deliver our objectives for the next five-year funding period.”
Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, added, “I am very pleased to appoint Liam to the role of MD, leading our team in Scotland.
“As we enter our new five-year funding period, Scotland’s Railway will face many challenges and opportunities and I have every confidence that Liam will continue delivering on our commitments on train service performance, safety, climate action, and affordability to the Scottish Government, our partners, customers, and our staff.
“Scotland’s Railway is already showing the rest of the UK the benefits of integrating track and train and I look forward to working with ScotRail, Scottish Rail Holdings, and Transport Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government, to strengthen our alliance and deliver an even better service for the people of Scotland.”
