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Wednesday 13 Mar 2024

Southern Renewals Enterprise announces Liz Baldwin as new director for Southern Integrated Delivery

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Southern

New role part of Southern Renewals Enterprise (SRE) which is being introduced across Network Rail's Southern Region

Liz Baldwin has been appointed as the Southern Integrated Delivery (SID) director to deliver Network Rail’s Southern region’s renewals portfolio for the next ten years.

The SID is part of the Southern Renewals Enterprise (SRE), a new and innovative model being introduced across Network Rail’s Southern region at the beginning of Control Period 7 (CP7) in April 2024 to deliver the £9bn renewals portfolio between 2024 and 2034.

The SID partnership combines the strengths and expertise of Network Rail and four business partners – VolkerFitzpatrick, Octavius, AtkinsRéalis and VolkerRail.

In a first for the railway industry, Network Rail’s Southern region formed the SRE model based on the Institution of Civil Engineers’ Project 13 principles – an industry leading approach to delivering infrastructure projects that is more collaborative, allows long term planning and has proven to deliver better outcomes for customers.

With the SID, the Southern region seeks to make transformational change in how renewals work is delivered by merging the capabilities of Network Rail and its supply chain to develop an integrated approach to delivery that will make the best use of resources, maximise efficiencies and collectively incentivise partners to deliver value to taxpayers and the right outcomes for passengers, freight and railway funders.

Liz joined as SID director on 19 February from Mott MacDonald, where she held the position of managing director for Highways and Intelligent Transport Systems Division. A Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and project management professional, she has over 25 years’ experience in engineering and construction.

Liz said: “I’m very excited about joining the team and taking on the role of SID director as part of the SRE. This is an amazing opportunity to make a step change in how efficiently and safely we can deliver renewals in a more effective and collaborative way across the region.

“I’m looking forward to working with Network Rail as the Capable Owner to really challenge how we approach the renewals work bank, to get the very best outcomes for our teams, and improve the passenger experience across Southern.”

Prior to joining Mott MacDonald, Liz was the alliance manager on the Wessex Capacity Alliance for Network Rail, and previous roles also include project director on HS2 and Crossrail 2.

Liz built on her skills gained as an army officer in the Corps of Royal Engineers, delivering projects across a variety of sectors, from transport and highways schemes and leading Local Authority project delivery teams, to leading major multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects in the rail sector.

Ellie Burrows, managing director for Network Rail’s Southern region, said: “I’m delighted to have Liz join the team. A huge amount of effort has gone into building the Southern Renewals Enterprise, and I’m excited that Liz will be supporting us to deliver this new and radical approach – the first of its kind in the industry. She’ll be central to making the Southern Integrated Delivery a reality. Her role is hugely important for this new phase of CP7, so we can deliver the best for the communities we serve and make the Southern region a great place to work.

“The rail industry has consistently demonstrated that when it comes together, it can do amazing things. This transformational step will bring all those ingredients together for the long-term delivery of renewals and make a tangible difference to passengers and freight-users alike.

“Rather than being restricted by the limitations of traditional contracting models, we’re creating long term relationships with our supply chain partners where everyone is truly incentivised to deliver better outcomes for our passengers and freight users.”

The Southern region is the busiest and most congested in the country. The region covers Dorset, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent and South London as well as the Network Rail High Speed route which carries Channel Tunnel services.

Over 7,000 passenger and freight services operate on the region every weekday – more than a third of Britain’s rail services.