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Friday 24 Apr 2020

Family members at Network Rail praised by rail minister for their work in keeping the railway running

Region & Route:

Southern

Colleagues from across Network Rail have been working to keep passengers and vital supplies moving.

Railway staff from across Network Rail have been working hard to keep signal boxes and control centres across Britain open 24/7, while maintaining vital infrastructure. This allows passengers whose journeys are essential, to continue travelling to work and means vital food and medical supplies can be transported across the country via freight services.

Despite the challenging circumstances, colleagues like Gary Murphy who lives in Kent have continued to work on the frontline, delivering critical work to keep the railway safe. Gary has been a Senior Project Engineer at Network Rail’s London Bridge Delivery Unit for the last 8 years and has been maintaining signalling equipment on the Kent route.

His family also work in the railway industry; his son Liam has spent the last 12 years at Network Rail and started as an apprentice before working his way up to become an incident controller on the Kent route. His daughter Laura also works in the rail industry for TfL.

Gary Murphy said: “As a family, we are involved in several aspects of the railway. My son Liam is about to start his new job as a Team Leader in the Ramsgate signalling team. My daughter Laura is a Digital Engineer at TfL, formerly working on the Crossrail project in technical information.”

“After 38 years working on the railway, I have never experienced a more challenging time and I am proud of my family and colleagues who are working hard to keep the railway safe and supplies moving.”

Joanne Regan, also from Kent, is a project manager in the South East and leads on the delivery of inspections and repairs at Network Rail assets such as viaducts. Her team have been able to deliver these works in a safe and environmentally responsible way while maintaining social distancing. Her daughter Hannah plans to follow in her footsteps and is in the process of completing her final year in Network Rail’s apprenticeship scheme.

Joanne Regan said: “At this present time, no one could ever imagine we would be working in these most challenging times at home. However, we are all professionals at Network Rail, and we’ve learnt how to quickly adapt to this fast-changing environment.”

“Hannah has successfully completed her technical training modules and has almost completed her NVQ Level 3 Qualification. She is working towards her ILM (Leadership & Management) Level 3 Qualification and I think she serves as a role-model for women thinking about joining our business.”

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Rail has been right at the centre of our efforts to combat this virus, enabling passengers to make essential journeys and transporting life-saving medicines and goods across the country.

“The work carried out by Gary and Joanne underlines the incredible efforts of the railway family in keeping our country running, ensuring that key workers and NHS staff can get to work, saving lives. I am immensely grateful for the dedication and vast amount of hard work they put in every day.”