HS2 and Crossrail chairman resigns
The chairman of the Crossrail and HS2 rail programmes has resigned from both roles.
Sir Terry Morgan, 70, has been involved in London’s Crossrail project for the past decade and took up the HS2 role just four months ago.
He told the BBC this week there was disappointment at Westminster about the delays affecting Crossrail.
The Elizabeth Line had been due to open in December 2018.
However, it has been delayed until autumn 2019 to allow more time for testing.
Sir Terry said on Saturday that he expected to be told to go.
“My expectation is that I will be asked to resign, and in the interests of both great programmes, that is what I will do,” he told the BBC on Monday.
HS2 promises to cut journey times from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds when operational but there has been criticism of the project over how much it is expected to cost and its impact on the environment.
The government has also announced that Allan Cook has been appointed as the new chair of HS2.
A successor for Sir Terry on Crossrail will be announced in due course.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling said: “Sir Terry has been an integral part of Crossrail for almost a decade and I would like to thank him for his dedication and the expertise he brought to the role. I am also grateful to him for his work as chair of HS2 Ltd.
“HS2 is the country’s biggest infrastructure project and, with his wealth of experience, Allan Cook is the right person to oversee the project as it progresses towards full construction.”
Cook is a chartered engineer with more than 40 years’ international experience in the infrastructure, automotive, aerospace and defence industries.
His experience includes serving as co-chair of the Defence Growth Partnership, chair of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, as a director of JF Lehman and Company, and as a former lead non-executive director for the then-Department of Business, Innovation and Skills under the coalition government.
Among his other senior posts, he was also chair of WS Atkins, Leonardo UK, and deputy chair of Marshalls Group. He served as the CEO of Cobham from 2000 to 2009.
He said: “It is a privilege to be asked to take on this crucial role on UK’s biggest infrastructure project. HS2 will transform Britain through the creation of jobs and skills across UK industry. It will improve connectivity and passenger experience as well as creating value for the UK economy.
“HS2 has made impressive progress in the past 18 months – with 7,000 highly skilled people currently working on this project. The regeneration of the West Midlands and Curzon Street in Birmingham are now well underway.
“I’m looking forward to working with Mark Thurston, his team and our partners, getting ready for the next few years when we will be making significant progress on building HS2 for the future.”
