Transport
Tube Lines boss moves to Crossrail
Terry Morgan, Chief Executive of tube maintenance contractor Tube Lines has been appointed non-executive chairman of Crossrail. Morgan will replace Doug Oakervee at Crossrail in November 2009 and remains with Tube Lines until then.
Morgan has spent seven years at the PPP contractor and was previously Group Managing Director (Operations) at BAE Systems.
Thanking Morgan for his achievements, David Begg, Tube Lines Chairman said: “although Terry will remain with the company until he joins Crossrail in November 2009, I will be starting the search for a successor who can lead Tube Lines through the Periodic Review and into the Second Review Period.”
Last week Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced that Oakervee would be heading up a feasibility study into the construction of a new airport in the Thames estuary.
Oakervee is reported to be working alongside Morgan on the appointment of a new chief executive which is expected to happen to next spring.
Morgan’s appointment was announced last Friday by Johnson and Rail Minister Lord Adonis. Adonis said he was “delighted that we’ve been able to secure the services and experience of Terry Morgan who has vast experience of running and delivering major transport engineering projects in London.”
Speaking last Friday Johnson paid tribute to the “pivotal role” Oakervee has played “in getting Crossrail to where it is today.”
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I am very sad that Doug Oakervee is leaving Crossrail. He has huge experience and expertise, along with that elusive quality ‘common sense’, and has made a huge contribution to the project.
The original plan was to sink a huge shaft at the end of Princelet Street in Spitalfields near Brick Lane, drill from there in opposite directions, and remove the spoil by lorry. Imagine that in the narrow denseley populated streets of that area, 24 hours a day!
I asked numerous questions of the Mayor, but was always fobbed off. Eventually I managed to arrange a meeting between Ken Livingstone and local residents. They told him politely but in no uncertain terms how devastating it would be to the area but nothing changed.
Then Doug Oakervee took over at Crossrail. Very quickly he altered that part of the project. “We need better quality drilling machines and fewer of them” he told me. “Then we can start drilling from each end working inwards and take all the spoil away by rail or on water. It will also be more cost effective doing it that way”. He brought the projected cost down in other ways too until it was at a realistic level.
I believe Crossrail is one of the most vital projects for London, far more important than the Olympics. Because without Crossrail, the Tube network will simply not be able to cope in the longer term.
Hopefully his successor will take it forward in the same hard headed and realistic way.