South West Trains

South West Trains Managing Director to retire
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date 5 October 2011
source South West Trains
type Press release

· Andy Pitt leaves on “career high” after nearly 30 years’ service to UK passenger rail industry
· Tim Shoveller appointed new head of UK’s biggest commuter rail franchise
· New Managing Director of East Midlands Trains confirmed as David Horne

Stagecoach Group announced today (5 October 2011) that Andy Pitt, Managing Director of South West Trains, has confirmed he plans to retire at the turn of the year.

Andy Pitt (52), who has more than 28 years’ experience in the passenger rail industry, will retire on 2 January 2012 after heading up one of Europe’s busiest commuter rail networks since 2009.

South West Trains was last month named 'Passenger Operator of the Year' at the 2011 National Rail Awards, as well as winning the “Maintenance Team of the Year” award in partnership with Siemens for the class-leading reliability of its train fleet.

The company was the most punctual large commuter network operator in 2010-11 - one of only three train operators to achieve a year on year increase – with punctuality of nearly 93%.

South West Trains also has one of the best customer satisfaction levels of any major operator in London and the South East and some 90% of passengers were satisfied with the punctuality/reliability of services in the last National Passenger Survey.

Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains, which has been the UK’s best performing long distance train operator for nearly three years, will take over as MD-designate at South West Trains on 1 December 2011 before taking up his new post on 2 January 2012.

Stagecoach Group has also confirmed that David Horne, currently Commercial and Customer Service Director at East Midlands Trains, will succeed Tim Shoveller as Managing Director of the company.

Andy Pitt took up the post of Managing Director at South West Trains, which runs around 1,700 trains a day in and out of London Waterloo, in October 2009. From 2001, he was Business Development Director for Stagecoach Rail Group, where he oversaw the development of the Group’s franchise bids, including the successful submissions for South Western and East Midlands.

He has previously held a number of senior management roles within British Railways, including at the South Wales and West regional railways division, and the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising. In 1997, he was appointed Commercial Director at South West Trains and in 1999 became Deputy Managing Director and led the procurement of a £1billion contract for new Desiro trains for South West Trains.

Andy Pitt said: “I will be leaving the company on a career high after South West Trains was named Passenger Operator of the Year just last month. It’s been a great honour to have had responsibility for one of the country’s most important rail networks and to have been part of such a motivated and dedicated team of railway people. I wish them every success for the future.

“We have a very strong management team and a tremendous group of committed frontline employees, and I’m very proud of their achievements. Without their commitment, and the support of our colleagues at Network Rail and other stakeholders, we would not have achieved such success in delivering high levels of passenger satisfaction and operating a reliable on-time railway.

“In public transport, you can never rest on past achievements and the rail industry faces many challenges ahead. But I am confident Tim Shoveller will bring the same focus on the things that matter to our customers and build on these achievements.”

Tim Shoveller (38), who has 20 years’ experience in the rail industry, began his career at Guildford. He has been Managing Director at East Midlands Trains since Stagecoach Group won the franchise in 2007.

He joined Stagecoach from Virgin Trains where, as Business Development Director and previously Operations Director, he played a key role in the success of Virgin West Coast. Before that, he was Operations Director at Midland Mainline and he has also held a senior position at Eurostar. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Railway Operators.

Tim Shoveller said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to lead what is widely and independently recognised as one of the best train companies in the country. I’m fortunate to be inheriting a highly professional team with a great track-record of delivering consistently high levels of service to our customers. I’m looking forward to the challenge of improving our performance even further. At the same time, the whole of the UK rail industry will be working hard to deliver better service to its customers and even better value for money to taxpayers.”

David Horne (39), currently Commercial and Customer Service Director at East Midlands Trains, led Stagecoach’s successful bid for the East Midlands franchise. He has worked in the rail industry since 1993 and has experience of intercity, regional and London & South East sectors in various commercial and strategic roles.

He said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to lead the UK’s most punctual long-distance rail operator. I have worked with East Midlands Trains since Stagecoach Group was appointed to run the franchise in 2007. Over the past four years, our frontline team and managers have seen the impact of our investment in trains, stations and focus on improved punctuality. I look forward to building on the progress we have made in further driving up customer satisfaction with our services.”

Stagecoach Group Chief Executive Sir Brian Souter said: “Andy has provided tremendous service to Stagecoach over a number of years and he has made a significant contribution to the success of our rail division. His detailed knowledge of the South Western franchise, and his experience of the wider rail industry, have been invaluable. We all wish him well in his retirement.

“I am delighted Tim and David will be leading the teams at South West Trains and East Midlands Trains. They are both amongst the very best managers in the UK rail industry and these appointments show the depth of management talent we have right across our businesses.”

Railhub Archive ::: 2011-10-05 SWT-001