Network Rail has announced that Andrew Haines will be its new chief executive – and be paid 27% less than his predecessor to run Britain’s rail infrastructure.
Haines, the chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority, will be paid £588,000 including benefits, with a possible 9% bonus, when he takes over in the autumn following a short handover period with retiring boss Mark Carne.
Haines arrives with a reputation for cost-cutting and transformation during his eight-year stint at the CAA, which earned him warm praise from the transport secretary, Chris Grayling. He said Haines had “done an outstanding job at the CAA”.
But he angered many within the organisation, who warned that its safety functions were being impaired as senior staff were made redundant and average salaries were slashed. A leaked internal report obtained by the Guardian last year showed inspectors under Haines believed they no longer had sufficient resources to do the job properly.
The CAA boss started his career in rail, as a left luggage clerk at London Victoria station, and later had stints as managing director at South West Trains then First Group’s rail division. He is sits on the board of rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail UK, a post he will resign on joining Network Rail.
He will take over a business plan for the next five years that will not commit Network Rail to grand engineering schemes after budgeting failures and cost overruns led to large parts of the current plan being abandoned, including electrification of parts of the Midland Mainline and lines in south Wales.
Announcing the appointment, Network Rail’s chairman Sir Peter Hendy said Haines would ensure a continued focus on safety, performance and cost effectiveness: “Andrew’s broad experience of rail and transport, and his reputation for relentless delivery and improvement, makes him the ideal candidate to carry on with the transformation of Network Rail that has been led by Mark Carne.”
Haines said he would work to “deliver closer working between track and train, embed devolution and turning the digital railway strategy into reality whilst efficiently delivering on challenging safety, operational, engineering and investment commitments”.
