National Express East Anglia’s Deputy Operations Director Ben Rule has won the inaugural ‘Outstanding Individual Operator’ award at the rail industry’s prestigious ‘Golden Whistle Awards’.
As Deputy Operations Director Ben has overall responsibility for 880 drivers and 200 conductors. Over the past year he has achieved several notable milestones, including receiving ‘Investors in People’ accreditation for NXEA’s train crew team, having successfully introduced a comprehensive suite of training and briefing processes. He has also focused his efforts on significantly reducing the effect of operating incidents that can cause delay and disruption to train journeys.
Mark Phillips National Express East Anglia’s Operations Director said:
“We’re all really proud of Ben; he’s made a fantastic contribution to the business and is wholly deserving of this award. At National Express East Anglia we are striving to continually improve our operational performance and Ben’s efforts have been at the forefront of this. He takes a broad approach, working closely with colleagues and rail industry partners, to assess all aspects of our performance. I’d like to congratulate him on winning this coveted Golden Whistle award.”
The Golden Whistle Awards are organised by the Institution of Railway Operators and respected rail industry journal Modern Railways. The awards publicly acknowledge best practice in the rail industry. Ben was nominated for the award by Mark Phillips and the entries were judged by a panel of rail industry experts. The awards were presented on 22 January 2011.
Well done, Ben – congratulations from your erstwhile Scottish colleagues!