Govia Thameslink Railway has announced that Patrick Verwer will join the train operating company as Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Verwer replaces Nick Brown in the role.

Patrick Verwer will join GTR as its COO at the start of September. He was Managing Director of London Midland between January 2012 and December 2017.

Before that, he worked in the transport industry in the UK and Europe. He first came to the UK in 2003 as Managing Director of Merseyrail. He was born and educated in the Netherlands and started his career in the Rotterdam police force.

What did the officials say?

Charles Horton, GTR’s Chief Executive, said: “Nick has made a major contribution to GTR, strengthening the team, improving performance and building high levels of collaborative working with Network Rail and stakeholders. His exceptional leadership, commitment and hard work will be greatly missed by me and many others across GTR.

“When Nick joined us in the autumn of 2016 he made a commitment to be with us for a two-year period to see through the introduction of the new timetable and the wider changes we have made. With that commitment due to be fulfilled by the autumn, Nick has decided that this will be the right time for him to move on and pursue his wider interests.

“I am delighted to welcome Patrick to GTR. He is a highly experienced railway professional with an outstanding track record of leadership in the transport industry. He will continue to implement the rollout of GTR’s RailPlan20/20 Programme, which is extending capacity in the fastest-growing and most challenging region of the UK rail network.”

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