Elaine Holt, popular chairman of government-owned Directly Operated Railways and the East Coast Main Line Company is stepping down at the end of her current contract.
Elaine will be joining National Express. In her new role she will be spearheading the company’s drive for new franchises. Says a spokesman. ‘We are delighted to announce that Elaine Holt will be joining us from early January as a Bid Director in the Rail team. Elaine’s appointment demonstrates our continued determination to assemble a very strong bid team to allow us to compete for upcoming franchises.’
In a message to all staff at East Coast Elaine said, ‘I’ve enjoyed immensely being at the helm of East Coast. It’s a really good business and I’m genuinely sorry to be leaving. We’ve achieved a huge amount in the last two years and we’re just starting to see the benefits of the company turnaround.
‘The business still has a number of challenges to overcome, but I’m absolutely convinced we made the right base choices and have established a strong new foundation for our successes to be sustainable.’
Punctuality has increased and passenger volume is up. Following Elaine’s departure, Michael Holden will become Chairman of East Coast, and Doug Sutherland will become Non-Executive Chairman of Directly Operated Railways. Elaine thanked all staff and managing director, Karen Boswell. ‘I couldn’t have achieved this level of progress without the very strong support from the staff of East Coast, the board, and in particular Karen Boswell, East Coast’s Managing Director.’