Network Rail Executive gets appointed as COO by Northern, UK

Friday, January 12, 2024

Matt Rice will take over as Northern’s chief operating officer (COO). Rice, a route director who works for Network Rail now, is anticipated to start his new position at Northern in the spring.

It is anticipated that Rice, a route director presently working for Network Rail, will start his new position at Northern in the spring. He will replace departing Chief Operating Officer Tricia Williams, who was named Northern’s new managing director in August 2023 and will take over in this capacity following Nick Donovan’s departure in the spring.

An Aberystwyth University alum, Rice gained extensive knowledge of the UK railway network while working as a management trainee at Network Rail. Since then, he has held a number of positions. In 2019, after working for a while on Middle Eastern railways, he returned to the UK and was named Network Rail’s north and east route director.

Northern’s managing director, Tricia Williams, who has a thorough understanding of the UK rail network and a strong commitment to improving the colleague experience, expressed her confidence in Rice’s appointment. She highlighted his dedication to improving service quality and agreed that delivering excellence depends heavily on having a positive workplace culture.

With the aim of giving clients a steady and reliable level of service, Rice will oversee all engineering and service operations in the North of England in his capacity as COO. With a focus on driving improvements and a commitment to fostering a positive work environment, Rice conveyed his excitement about joining the Northern team. He restated his commitment to offering the people of the North of England excellent rail services.

As COO, Rice will be in charge of managing all engineering and service operations for Northern in the North of England. His main goal will be to guarantee the smooth and dependable running of Northern’s rail services, with an emphasis on improving the general experience for passengers. This entails running the train network’s daily operations, maximizing service delivery, and putting strategic plans into action to raise the caliber and dependability of services.

In addition to expressing his excitement about joining Northern, Rice pledged to provide the people of the North of England with top-notch rail services. He emphasized his commitment to fostering a positive work environment and his lifelong commitment to driving improvements. Rice is excited to take over as Northern’s operations manager and support the business’s continued success in the UK rail sector.

Northern is the second-largest train operator in the United Kingdom, operating 2,500 services daily, serving over 500 stations in the North of England. The appointment of Rice demonstrates the company’s commitment to maintaining and improving its services in the area.  

[Image Source: Rail UK]

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