Northern appoints Network Rail Executive as new COO at Northern

Northern has appointed Matt Rice as its new chief operating officer.
Rice, who lives in York, North Yorkshire, is currently a route director at Network Rail and is set to join the train operator later in the spring.
He will succeed Tricia Williams, the outgoing chief operating officer, who was announced as Northern’s new managing director in August 2023 and will step into the managing director role when Nick Donovan leaves in the spring.
A graduate of Aberystwyth University, he joined Network Rail as a management trainee and has gone on to hold a diverse range of roles spanning the intricacies of the UK railway system.
After a period with railways in the Middle East, he returned to the UK, where in 2019 he was appointed as route director for the north and east route of Network Rail.
Tricia Williams, incoming managing director of Northern, said: “Matt has extensive knowledge of the UK rail network and a clear understanding of the size and scope of our operation.
“What also became clear during the recruitment process was his steadfast commitment to understanding and enhancing the colleague experience for the teams he has led, recognising its importance and impact on the quality of service delivered.”
In the chief operating officer role, Rice will lead all Northern service and engineering functions across the North of England, with the objective of delivering a stable and reliable service for customers.
Commenting on his appointment, Matt Rice said: “I am really looking forward to joining the team at Northern and working with Tricia and colleagues across the region to deliver for our customers.
“I have spent my career focused on making things better and I am committed to fostering a positive workplace culture for all and delivering great rail services for people across the North of England.”
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.

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Northern appoints Network Rail executive as new chief operating officer

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YorkRailFan said:

Northern appoints Network Rail executive as new chief operating officer

Northern | Buy Cheap Train Tickets and Check Train Times

www.northernrailway.co.uk

I sadly don't think much will change at Northern following this appointment as a lot of Northern's problems are due to micromanagement from the DFT (such as rolling stock shortages) but I wish Rice all the best in his new role at Northern.

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alexl92 said:

Ive never come across Matt but I recently met Tricia. Her knowledge of Northern’s ops, and passion to see the company improve and thrive, was brilliant to see. She was also quite happy to chat in thr coffee queue. I think she will be absolutely Dynamite if the DfT let her do her job.

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td97 said:

Tricia has presided over the current dross state of Northern (summarised by the 10.5% cancellation rate in November). All talk and no substance. Good riddance from operations.
At least Matt has a railway background which is hugely beneficial for a management role at a TOC.

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td97 said:

Tricia has presided over the current dross state of Northern (summarised by the 10.5% cancellation rate in November). All talk and no substance. Good riddance from operations.
At least Matt has a railway background which is hugely beneficial for a management role at a TOC.

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northernchris said:

Indeed, Tricia must have been involved in approving some of Northern's processes. Just about everything Northern do is to make things easier for themselves, often at the expense of passengers, like refusing to apply delay repay to P-coded trains or installing the ridiculous polygraph at ticket gates which cause unnecessary crowding, delays and frustration. Let's hope her skills are more suited to the MD role, Matt can't be any worse.

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alexl92 said:

Ive never come across Matt but I recently met Tricia. Her knowledge of Northern’s ops, and passion to see the company improve and thrive, was brilliant to see. She was also quite happy to chat in thr coffee queue. I think she will be absolutely Dynamite if the DfT let her do her job.

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alexl92 said:

many of the reasons for the cancellations are indeed out of her hands and the company have taken significant steps to improve overall performance.

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alexl92 said:

The TOC as a whole is in significantly better condition than under any of the previous operators.

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Swaine said:

#7 above
What is the polygraph at ticket gates that is referred to?

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johntea said:

They’ve had that box out at Leeds quite frequently during the morning peak recently, who needs 30 odd barriers anyway when you can just force hundreds of passengers to crowd round a single one trying to exit?!

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johntea said:

They’ve had that box out at Leeds quite frequently during the morning peak recently, who needs 30 odd barriers anyway when you can just force hundreds of passengers to crowd round a single one trying to exit?! (Maybe a good project for Mr Rice considering Network Rail spent quite a bit of pocket money redesigning the barrier line a few years ago for ‘easier flow’! )

Northern generally do seem to try and do the best with what they’ve got but the problem with that is it doesn’t take much going wrong before the whole house of cards ends up collapsing, some regions and lines seem to certainly get the priority treatment too (nothing to do with the execs that live on the routes of course) whilst others just get left to rot

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Dr Hoo said:

Can you explain what “that box” is, please?

(I have visions of the old Underground ‘honesty boxes’ for dropping ‘excess fares’ in at some side exits that were opened in the evening peak.)

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