New Unified Leadership Team Brings Track and Train Together Across East Anglia Ahead of Great British Railways

A new integrated leadership team has been established across c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia in a major step towards the future creation of Great British Railways (GBR).

The new structure brings responsibility for both train operations and rail infrastructure under a single leadership umbrella across the East of England, with the aim of improving coordination, reducing disruption and delivering a more reliable railway for passengers and freight customers.

The move is being seen as an important milestone in the Government’s wider rail reform programme, which seeks to end fragmentation across the industry by integrating track and train operations under public ownership.

Rail Minister Lord Hendy said the new structure demonstrates how closer collaboration between operators and infrastructure managers can improve service delivery for customers.

“c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia are showing exactly how public ownership is transforming the railways for good,” he said.

“Great British Railways will bring the management of train and track together, a vital part of ending the fragmentation that passengers have dealt with for far too long.”

He added:

“As we move towards GBR, leaders will work together to put passengers and freight at the centre of all planning and decision-making, and those travelling across East Anglia will now reap the benefits: less disruption, greater connectivity and improved reliability.”

Closer Coordination Across the Network

The new integrated model is expected to improve both day-to-day operational performance and longer-term infrastructure planning by allowing decisions around engineering work, disruption management and service delivery to be made more collaboratively.

Industry leaders believe the approach will help keep the railway operating more effectively during periods of disruption by improving communication between track and train teams and enabling better planning of maintenance works.

The model has already been trialled elsewhere on publicly owned networks including South Eastern Railway and South Western Railway, where integrated operational structures have been introduced in recent years.

Passengers travelling on c2c and Greater Anglia services will not see any immediate changes to branding, ticketing or service patterns, with existing operations continuing as normal while integration work progresses behind the scenes.

New Leadership Team Announced

The newly formed East Anglia railway leadership team includes senior figures drawn from both train operators and Network Rail, including:

• Jamie Burles – Managing Director

• Martin Beable – Chief Operating Officer

• Rob Mullen – Chief Customer and Commercial Officer

• Louise Kavanagh – Finance Director

• Lee Parlett – Health, Safety, Security & Environment Director

• Katy Bucknell – People Director

• Chris Curtis – Planning & Performance Director

• Natalie Allen – Strategy & Change Director

• Natasha Grandison – Chief of Staff

• Henry Bates – Integration and Interim Communications Director

Jamie Burles, the newly appointed Managing Director, said the integration would build on the strong operational performance already achieved across the region.

“We are starting from a position of strength, with two of the best-performing train operators in the country and a strong Network Rail route,” he said.

“This is about building on that success and moving into the next phase, with joint objectives and joint solutions.”

Burles added:

“By bringing track and train together under one leadership team, we can plan better, respond faster and deliver an even more reliable railway for passengers.

“Over time, that means better coordination during disruption, more effective planning of engineering work and a more consistent experience for customers and communities across the region.”

Step Towards Great British Railways

The integration of c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail Anglia is widely viewed as another major step towards the eventual establishment of Great British Railways, which is expected to oversee both rail infrastructure and passenger services nationally.

The Government says the reforms are intended to simplify the railway, improve accountability and create a more passenger-focused network capable of delivering better reliability and long-term investment planning.

The East Anglia integration programme is expected to continue evolving over the coming months as teams work more closely together across operational, engineering and customer service functions.