An interim chief executive has been appointed at the Office of Rail and Road to replace John Larkinson, who was at the centre of a controversy during the autumn of last year when the ORR proposed to withdraw the popular 07.00 Avanti West Coast service from Manchester to London from January, replacing it with an empty stock working which would still have departed from Piccadilly each morning with a full crew.
The ORR explained that its path would have become a ‘firebreak’ which could be used to keep other trains on time, but the change was reversed in the face of numerous protests. The decision to keep the 07.00 as a passenger service was welcomed by transport secretary Heidi Alexander, among many others.
Following questions from the House of Commons Transport Committee, John Larkinson admitted in a letter that ‘we did not have all the facts’. He continued: ‘although we expect applicants to provide all relevant supporting information with their applications, if the ORR team had contacted Avanti for more information, our decision may have been different, but they were stretched …’.
Mr Larkinson added: ‘I take full responsibility for what happened and we are strengthening our processes to reflect the lessons we have learned.’
It was already known that he was planning to step down later this month, and his temporary replacement is the ORR’s director of planning and performance Feras Alshaker, who will become interim chief executive on the 27th of this month.
Mr Alshaker, who has been at the ORR for nearly a decade, will be taking the reins at a testing time. Quite apart from the controversy over the 07.00 and the allocation of firebreak paths, the ORR is facing changes in connection with the creation of Great British Railways.
The renationalisation proposals have come under fire from critics who say that GBR will make its own decisions about access rights to its network, which could be a problem for open access operators, both passenger and freight, although they will be able to appeal to the ORR.
ORR chair Declan Collier said: ‘I am very pleased that Feras has agreed to take on the role of interim chief executive. His experience, leadership and deep understanding of ORR will be invaluable as we continue to deliver our priorities for rail reform and navigate a period of significant change.’
Feras Alshaker said he was ‘grateful’ to the Board for the confidence they had shown in him. He continued: ‘I am proud to lead ORR in this interim period as we continue our transformation, support rail reform and ensure effective, proportionate regulation that delivers for passengers, freight users and taxpayers.’
A permanent replacement for Mr Larkinson is due to be appointed later this year.
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