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Friday 8 Jun 2018

Network Rail staff receive Honours

Region & Route:

National

Three Network Rail employees have today been honoured in the Queen’s birthday honours list:

• Ian Stevens, programme manager, MBE, for services to suicide prevention
• Scott Heath, project manager, BEM, for services to the LGBT community
• Mark Carne, chief executive, CBE, for services to the railway industry

Commenting on the awards to his staff, Mark Carne, chief executive said: “Ian and Scott are tremendous role models and inspirations for our 38,000 employees and the difference we can make in our daily lives.  Ian has transformed the rail industry’s approach to the difficult subject of suicide on the railway which has included the training of 15,000 railway workers in suicide prevention.  His work has contributed to a reduction in suicides on the railway.  Scott’s work has played a vital role as we strive to become an industry where everyone is treated equally and is able to bring 100% per cent of themselves to work every day.”

Ian’s story

Ian, 55, has transformed the rail industry’s approach to the difficult subject of suicide on the railway. Since the rollout of Network Rail’s specialist training programme, initiated and driven forward by Ian, suicides on the network have fallen by 18 per cent. The training programme, which has now equipped over 15,000 railway staff to intervene with people at risk, is directly saving the lives of those in need.  In the last year, suicide interventions on the railway rose by 40 per cent to 1,593 potentially life-saving interventions by railway staff.

Scott’s story

Scott, 29, is now the deputy chair of Archway, Network Rail’s LGBT employee network, but has also been the national socials & events officer. These roles take up a significant amount of time, organising events for members the length and breadth of Britain, bringing together LGBT people from across the organisation and industry in a way they previously wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do, all of which Scott does in his own spare time outside of work hours. Scott also volunteers as the chairman of the Board of Trustees at Volunteer Centre Camden, a London charity where he oversees the charity’s work to match volunteers to a role that interests them

Commenting on the award to Network Rail’s chief executive, Mark Carne, Sir Peter Hendy, chairman, said: “Clearly the timing of this award is difficult given current industry issues and their effects on passengers, but we should take a step back and look at Mark’s whole career, and particularly his record over the past four and a half years and recognise, as this award does, his tremendous contribution to our railway.   

“Mark has successfully transitioned Network Rail into public ownership, delivering the largest investment programme in modern times, successfully devolving the organisation to be responsive to customers, has made a 21st Century digital railway a reality, and his personal commitment to safety has made our railway the safest in Europe. His drive and passion have been inspirational as has his commitment to workforce diversity, dignity and equality. It’s right he is honoured just before he retires from one of the biggest and most challenging jobs in UK industry and alongside everyone at Network Rail, I congratulate him."

Mark’s story:

Mark Carne, 59, joined Network Rail on the cusp of the biggest investment programme the railway had seen in generations and at a time when the company was reclassified as public body.   The company’s huge project portfolio required rebasing early in his tenure and he worked with Government and numerous other partners to get the programme on track so that it could maximise the benefits to be delivered to passengers.  This £15 billion portfolio of projects, includes delivery of the iconic London Bridge station, Birmingham New Street and Crossrail which are already bringing benefits to passengers and further projects that will come to fruition in the coming months bringing thousands of new carriages and new services transforming journeys for people up and down the country.  

Mark has driven the organisation to be cost and customer conscious, has successfully instituted route devolution to Network Rail’s regions, decentralising a once monolithic organisation, to be better able to respond to customer needs and help forge closer working between track and train.

 Mark set out a strategic vision for the digital transformation of the railway, which is now becoming a reality and led with zealous passion a drive to make the railway even safer for all its users, which saw Britain’s railway become the safest railway in Europe.

ENDS