Merseyrail has announced it has appointed Neil Grabham as its new Managing Director.

Neil has a wealth of experience with both the rail sector and the wider commercial world, having previously been in senior leadership roles with Greater Anglia, Signet Jewellers, and Lidl.

He is currently East Midlands Railway’s Customer Services Director. He replaces Andy Heath who left earlier this summer, and Jane English who has been Acting Managing Director for the last ten months, and will take up his appointment from mid-August.

Merseyrail operates 600 train services per day throughout the region and is in the process of rolling out a new fleet of class 777 trains, some of which are battery-powered. They are being introduced as part of a significant modernisation programme on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

This is an exciting time for the business, and Neil will lead it through this change with the aim of giving local people the highest quality rail service for local people on behalf of the Combined Authority, in partnership with Merseyrail’s shareholders Serco and Transport UK.

Neil Grabham, Merseyrail Managing Director said “I feel very proud to have been given the opportunity to lead the fantastic team at Merseyrail, who I know share my ambition to deliver a railway that the communities we serve can be proud of.  This is an exciting time of transformation, with new trains being introduced, and the opportunity to deliver real improvements in the journey experiences of our customers”.

Dominic Booth, CEO of Transport UK said “I am very pleased that Neil will be taking over as Managing Director at Merseyrail at such an exciting and transformational time for the business. Neil’s focus on the customer and providing the best possible operational service levels will be a great fit for the City Region. I would also like to thank Jane English for her excellent stewardship of the business over the last ten months.”

John Whitehurst, Managing Director of Serco’s Transport business, said: “We are delighted that Neil is joining Merseyrail.  He brings with him a wealth of experience and a real focus on customer service, which is so important for Merseyrail as we continue to transform the service on the back of the new train.”