Our executive leadership team
Executive matters are delegated to the executive leadership team.
Jeremy Westlake, Chief Executive
Jeremy Westlake has served as Chief Executive of Network Rail since October 2025, following a successful nine‑year tenure as Chief Financial Officer. His innovative thinking and commercial acumen have underpinned major initiatives such as Project Reach, (telecoms and passenger connectivity), Bloy’s Grove Solar Farm (renewal energy supply) and Platform 4, (property development) each focused on improving outcomes for passengers, commercial returns, and industry development.
Over his career, Jeremy has held senior roles spanning government relations, regulation, product development, manufacturing, engineering and supply chains across the transport sector — from global rail projects to aviation.
As CEO, Jeremy is committed to delivering on the trinity of safety, reliability and performance and sees the transition to Great British Railways as a significant opportunity to unleash the potential of the organisation to deliver a better railway.
Paul Marshall, Chief Financial Officer
Skills and experience
Paul is the chief financial officer for Network Rail. Previously, Paul was the organisation’s group finance director leading the delivery of the company’s successful multi £bn efficiency programme.
He has over 20 years experience in finance in the UK Rail Industry, including as a board director for London North Eastern Railway (LNER). Paul is a board director for Network Rail International (consultancy), Network Rail Insurance and Platform4 Rail Regeneration (Property Development).
Paul is a chartered management accountant and has an MBA from Oxford University.
Responsibilities
Paul leads the Finance function, which includes property, legal, regulation and investment as well as group and corporate finance.
David Leam, Chief of staff
Skills & Experience
David was previously the group communications director at Network Rail. Before joining Network Rail, he was the executive director for infrastructure at the London First business group, where he led campaigns and policy work on projects like Crossrail 2 and Heathrow. He has also served as a special adviser at the Department for Transport and the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Responsibilities
On behalf of the chief executive, David leads and develops the day to day running of the chief executive’s office and key activities to achieve the strategic business objectives and meet key performance measures.
Clive Berrington, Group Director, Route Services
Skills and experience
Prior to leading Route Services, Clive held roles of group commercial and procurement director and group director of business planning and strategy at Network Rail. Before joining Network Rail, he worked in the private sector in various commercial, delivery and management roles in the sports event management and IT industries.
Responsibilities
Route Services supplies services to our devolved businesses (routes and regions) and functions to benefit from economies of scale and enables us to optimise resources nationally. It is responsible for Supply Chain Operations, Engineering Services, Digital, Data & Technology, Shared Services, Training, and Commercial & Procurement.
Anit Chandarana, Group Director, System Operator
Skills and experience
Anit has over 20 years’ experience in the rail industry, largely at Network Rail, where he has held senior roles including finance director, director of planning and strategy, and chief of staff. His recent railway experience includes a secondment to the Department for Transport and leading the Great British Railways Transition team. Before joining Network Rail in 2003, Anit trained in finance at Sainsbury’s and spent five years within Shell’s retail business. Alongside his executive role, he has held several significant non-executive positions, including chairing two Network Rail pension scheme trustee boards.
Responsibilities
System Operator is responsible for ensuring that the rail network functions as a whole, in the interest of its users, stakeholders and funders. It is responsible for long term network strategic planning, punctuality performance, timetables, and infrastructure capacity.
Pauline Holroyd, Group HR Director
Skills & Experience
Pauline began her career in manufacturing, progressing to HR director roles across Kimberly Clark’s European divisions. She later served as HR director at Gatwick Airport, leading a major service transformation programme, before joining Aviva, where she delivered the organisation’s largest insurance change programme, integrating multiple acquisitions and managing the transition from Norwich Union. Pauline subsequently led the separation of the Post Office from Royal Mail, became global HR vice president at Crawford & Co, and later established a systemic transformation consultancy. She now designs and delivers people strategy and services, and leads GBR design for Network Rail.
Responsibilities
Human Resources provides support services to all the regions and network support functions. Pauline is responsible for the design and delivery of the people strategy as well as associated services.
Molly Neal, Group Communications Director
Skills & Experience
Molly joined in January 2025 from National Grid, where she led their global corporate communications and brand function for five years. In addition to her time at National Grid, she has also led communications at UK real estate developer Land Securities Group plc and is a former journalist at the Wall Street Journal.
Responsibilities
Reporting to the Chief Executive, Molly will lead the strategic direction of communications and stakeholder engagement for the organisation.
Martin Frobisher, Group Safety & Engineering Director, Technical Authority
Skills and Experience
Martin joined Railtrack in 1998 as contracts manager for infrastructure maintenance contracts in the Manchester area. Over the last 28 years, he has undertaken various railway maintenance, safety and operational roles. This includes managing director for the London North Western region, head of safety for the infrastructure maintenance function and managing director for the East Midlands route. He is also a non-executive director for the Railway Safety and Standards board and European Regional vice-chair for the International Union of Railways. Martin is a chartered mechanical engineer.
Responsibilities
As Group Safety & Engineering Director, Martin leads Network Rail’s Technical Authority, setting engineering standards and specifications for railway infrastructure. The Technical Authority drives improved train performance and safety through technical leadership, assurance, and expert support across asset management, engineering, maintenance, operations, health and wellbeing, safety, security, quality, environment, sustainability, and information management.
Toufic Machnouk – managing director, GBRX*
Toufic is managing director of GBRX, the strategic technology body for Great British Railways. GBRX is working to advance the adoption of innovative technology across track and train, improving how the railway works for people and developing the skills for a more sustainable future. Previously, he led the Industry Partnership for Digital Railway, the sector’s largest strategic partnership, to deliver a multi-billion-pound investment portfolio. He holds a degree in engineering design and an executive MBA from the University of Bath.
*GBRX is the strategic technology and innovation body for Great British Railways, established to overcome barriers and accelerate adoption across the sector, track and train, public and private.
Region Managing Directors
Our five Network Rail regions – Eastern, North West and Central, Scotland’s Railway, Southern and Wales & Western – support our routes. They provide assurance, shared services and support to help the routes deliver for passengers and customers. Regions are designed to better reflect the needs of and promote closer relationships with our customers and stakeholders – driving better train performance for passengers and freight users.
Each is led by a region’s managing director who are part of the executive leadership team at Network Rail.
Ellie Burrows, Managing Director, Eastern region
Skills and Experience
Ellie is an experienced executive director and well-respected industry leader with leadership roles across Network Rail and Southeastern. She has been regional managing director for Eastern since March 2025 and, since March 2026, also serves as deputy CEO of Network Rail. At Eastern, she led the introduction of the East Coast Main Line December 2025 timetable, a major change to the route in over a decade. Previously, as regional managing director for Southern, she delivered business improvement and transformation programmes, including the Southern Renewals Enterprise, and wider rail industry reform.
Responsibilities
Ellie leads the Eastern region operating some of the busiest rail lines in the country, transporting large numbers of commuters to and from busy cities including Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Norwich, Cambridge and London. It’s also home to other major transport hubs including three airports and 13 freight ports.
Jake Kelly, Managing Director, North West and Central region
Skills and Experience
Jake has extensive rail industry experience in operational, commercial, strategic, and project delivery roles. He joined Network Rail in 2019 as passenger director and was previously managing director of East Midlands Trains. Jake leads North West & Central, which includes the West Coast Mainline, serving major cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Jake has recently taken on the role as deputy chief executive of Network Rail.
Responsibilities
Jake leads the North West & Central (NW&C) region with infrastructure running from London Euston and Marylebone in the south through the Chiltern and West Midlands regions, the North West of England and Cumbria before joining with Scotland at Gretna.
It is home to the West Coast Mainline, the busiest mixed-use railway in Europe, serving London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Liam Sumpter, Managing Director, Scotland
Skills and experience
Liam was appointed managing director for Network Rail Scotland in April 2024. With 22 years in the UK rail industry, he has held various operational, functional, and leadership roles, focusing on performance improvement, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement. Liam began his career with Railtrack in 2002 and has worked with Arriva Rail North and Network Rail in several senior positions. He is a chartered management accountant.
Responsibilities
Liam will be responsible for Network Rail’s membership of the alliance between ScotRail, Scottish Rail Holdings and Transport Scotland, as part of Scotland’s Railway.
Scotland’s Railway covers a large geographical area from the Borders to Thurso at the far tip of the North East of Scotland. It provides rapid access along busy commuter routes to our eight cities. It fulfils a variety of travel needs from business and leisure to daily commuter services, including cross border services; it supports rural services and the needs of freight customers alike.
Dave Hooper, Managing Director, Southern
Skills and Experience
Dave joined Southern on 1 May 2025. Dave is an experienced executive director and industry leader with a wide variety of railway system knowledge, major programme delivery and business turnaround and transformation. He has held a number of senior positions at Siemens Mobility, Osborne, Transport for London, Serco, and two train operating companies. Dave also worked at Network Rail earlier in his career, where he led pioneering track-train integration projects in collaboration with South West Trains.
Responsibilities
Dave now leads Network Rail’s Southern region, serving passengers and freight operators across the busiest rail lines in the country, transporting large numbers of commuters to London and other employment hubs from Devon in the West to Kent in the East and links Wessex, Sussex and Kent as well as Network Rail High Speed. The region also serves channel routes to Europe, major ports and Gatwick and Southampton airports, transporting large numbers of leisure travellers to south coast resorts and other tourist destinations. Southern region carries over 1 million passengers a day – 40% of the nation’s journeys as well as the biggest, Waterloo, and the busiest, Clapham Junction, stations in the country and Europe.
Mark Killick, Managing Director, Wales & Western
Skills and Experience
Mark was appointed managing director for Wales & Western in November 2025. He joined the railway industry in 2009 after a successful career in the automotive sector. Since joining Network Rail, he has held a range of senior leadership roles, including chief operating officer, route director, and director of engineering and asset management with a strong focus on safety, continuous improvement, industry collaboration, efficiency, and employee engagement. Mark played a key role in the introduction of the Southern Renewals Enterprise, a new collaborative delivery model accountable for the efficient delivery of infrastructure renewals over the next 10 years. He is a chartered mechanical engineer and a chartered director.
Responsibilities
Leading the geographically diverse region of Wales & Western, Mark’s priorities are focused on achieving the best outcomes for passengers, stakeholders and communities.
As the only region that combines a country – Wales, with its distinct culture, language, history and politics – with an area of England, Wales & Western has a unique set of opportunities and strengths.
Mark supports the region’s 5,100 colleagues to provide a safe and reliable railway, to maintain and enhance the railway infrastructure and ensures careful stewardship of financial resources.
Susan Beadles, Group general counsel and company secretary
Skills and experience
Susan is responsible for the national Legal and Corporate Services team within the CFO Directorate. Susan is a qualified solicitor who has over 30 years’ experience working in private practice and in-house, within both public and private sector companies. Susan joined the company from Crossrail Limited where she held the position of general counsel and company secretary. Susan’s extensive experience includes providing and managing legal support to high-profile companies, and in connection with major and complex construction projects.
The group general counsel and company secretary provides advice and support to the Board, the chair and the directors on legal and governance matters. As company secretary, she ensures that a high standard of governance is maintained so that the Board functions effectively and efficiently. The appointment and removal of the company secretary is a matter for the Board as a whole.
For more in depth information about the role and authority of the executive committee, you can read our terms of reference.