Managing Director appointed for the ScotRail & Network Rail Alliance

Last updated: Monday, 6 June 2016

Network Rail and Abellio are delighted to announce the appointment of Phil Verster as Managing Director for the planned ScotRail and Network Rail Alliance in Scotland.

Prior to joining Network Rail in 2012, Phil was Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Irish Rail. He'll now be working closely with Abellio's mobilisation and transition team, the ScotRail leadership team and Network Rail to plan and organise the alliance transition arrangements.

He will also be facilitating an orderly and effective hand over from Steve Montgomery who has agreed to lead the new ScotRail franchise during the initial period of operations. Steve's leadership will ensure continuity in service quality for customers and we would like to take this opportunity to recognise Steve's tremendous contribution to ScotRail and wish him every success in the future.

The formation of a new alliance for Scotland's rail services offers major opportunities which require careful planning to deliver. Phil is currently Route Managing Director of Network Rail's second largest route London North East (which includes the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland) where he has led the implementation of continuous improvement, to drive cost benefits on the East Coast route. That, and his record in safety improvement, made him the ideal candidate for the role.

Dominic Booth, Managing Director of Abellio UK, said: "We are delighted to be able to announce the appointment of Phil so early in the transition process, and so soon after announcing the Day One team for ScotRail. We are confident that Phil brings the requisite skills and experience to drive transformational change in order to deliver against our ambitious plans for the improvement of rail travel in Scotland."