Richard McClean has been appointed managing director of Grand Central.
The open access operator, which runs direct services between Sunderland, Hartlepool and London, was taken over by Arriva UK last year.
Mr McLean will continue as head of the group’s Tyne and Wear Metro operation.
Sean English, currently Grand Central’s operations director, will take on the new role of general manager.
Reporting to Richard, Sean will be responsible for the day-to-day delivery of all Grand Central services and will work with Richard to further improve Grand Central’s operations.
Richard replaces Tom Clift who is leaving the business. Says Tom, ‘I have enormous pride in the small, committed and professional team that has worked so hard to make Grand Central the success it is today. I thank them all for their support over the years.’
McClean has more than 30 years’ rail industry experience, including 10 years in inter-city operations on the East Coast Main Line. Since April 2010 he has led the Tyne and Wear Metro concession, operated on behalf of Nexus. Sean English, originally from Glasgow, has been with Grand Central from its launch.
Says Bob Holland, managing director at Arriva UK Trains, ‘The 95 per cent customer satisfaction rating, the highest in the latest National Passenger Survey, is testament to Tom and his team’s achievements with Grand Central.
‘Grand Central complements Arriva‘s existing rail portfolio and under Richard’s leadership, supported by Sean, we look forward to taking the business forward as a commercial open access dimension to our UK rail operations.’
