Northern has appointed Paul Headon ‘Timetable Taskmaster’ and will join the rail operators team from the 29th of August.

Heading up Service Planning for Northern, Paul will have overall responsibility for its timetable overseeing over 2,500 services every day across 500+ stations in the North of England.

Prior to joining Northern worked as head of timetable strategy for TransPennine Express and is well versed in the complex world of railway timetables.

Each year, rail operators across the country change their timetable twice as part of a national process. In order to support this process, Northern introduced its online tool ‘Check My Timetable’ on its website, which allows customers to easily check how changes to timetables could affect their local station. To find out more about timetable change moments, please click here.

Paul Headon, head of service planning at Northern, said:

“I’m excited to join Northern and get stuck in with the team to deliver a timetable that works for our customers.”

“As the second largest train operator in the UK, Northern has an important role to play in keeping the North of England on the move.”

Rob Warnes, strategic development director at Northern, said:

“Timetable planning at this level is nothing short of a work of art – and like actual art, everyone has an opinion.”

“Paul has amazing experience in this field and will make a huge contribution to our executive leadership team.”