Monday 6 Jan 2020
New Route Director Joins Network Rail Anglia
- Region & Route:
- Eastern: Anglia
Ellie Burrows has joined Network Rail this week as route director for Anglia. The Anglia route is one of four new routes that make up Network Rail’s Eastern region and covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and parts of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London. The move to routes and regions is part of Network Rail’s nationwide programme “Putting Passengers First” launched in June 2019.
Ellie Burrows has over 20 years’ experience in the UK rail industry in a wide variety of roles, including area director at Network Rail and, most recently, as train services director at Southeastern.
She joins at an exciting time, as Network Rail continues its programme to invest a record £2.2bn between 2019 and 2024 in running, maintaining and improving Anglia’s railway for passengers and freight users. Major infrastructure projects over the next few years include: renewing the signalling system at Cambridge; renewing and refurbishing a quarter of the track network; increasing capacity between Cambridge and Kings Lynn; replacing Victorian signalling with 21st century technology between Norwich, Yarmouth and Lowestoft, and replacing overhead lines on the Southend Victoria route.
Rob McIntosh, Network Rail managing director Eastern, said: “Ellie brings an enormous wealth of rail industry experience and is exactly the right person to drive the route forward and deliver an exceptional railway for the economy and communities we serve. She reinforces a talented leadership team in this region who are committed to putting passengers and freight users at the heart of everything we do.”
Ellie Burrows, route director, Anglia, said: “I am thrilled to be re-joining Network Rail and leading the team in Anglia. Having gained invaluable experience of running train services at Southeastern, I look forward to working with regional passenger and freight operators in delivering first-rate rail services for their customers.”
Notes to Editors
Ellie Burrows
Ellie Burrows has over 20 years’ experience in the UK rail industry in a wide variety of roles, including area director roles at Network Rail and, most recently, as train services director at Southeastern.
At Southeastern Ellie was responsible for operating over 2,000 train services running 640,000 passenger journeys during weekdays. She oversaw significant improvements in safety and punctuality and helped to deliver the award-winning Thameslink programme around London Bridge and South East London. She was also responsible for delivering the high performance of HS1, the UK’s first domestic high-speed train service from St Pancras to the Kent coast.
Ellie is also a director in the Institution of Railway Operators and accredited as a Fellow of the IRO. She took on the role to help professionalise railway operations and promote an inclusive culture where knowledge is valued and shared across the industry.
Anglia route
The Anglia route is part of Network Rail’s Eastern Region and comprises 1,697 track miles across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and parts of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London.
The route serves a fast-growing area connecting millions of commuters, leisure travellers and freight with three major UK ports at Felixstowe, Thameshaven and Tilbury, as well as Stansted and Southend airports.
The route employs 2,600 staff who run 4,230 trains a day, calling at 235 stations and running through more level crossings than any other route in the country.
Network Rail Anglia also owns and operates London Liverpool Street, the nation’s third busiest station, with 63.6 million passenger journeys passing through it every year.
Main Railway Lines
- Great Eastern Mainline from Liverpool Street to Norwich and branches
- Cross-country Corridor via Ely from Ipswich/Norwich to Cambridge/Peterborough
- West Anglia Mainline from Liverpool Street to Cambridge, Kings Lynn and branches
- Orbital Routes, comprising the North London line from Stratford to Richmond and the Barking to Gospel Oak line
- Essex Thameside line from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Upminster and Tilbury.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - Katie Mack
Media relations manager (Anglia route)
0330 8577 132
Katie.Mack@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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