John Dougan

Said the following about John Thompson:

“I would like to nominate John Thompson, Project Delivery Engineering Manager from the Network Rail North West Electrification Programme (NWEP) team as Rail Person of the Year for their outstanding contribution to one of the more challenging infrastructure projects that will have been commissioned by the end of this year.

As the Designated Project Engineer for NWEP Phase 4 (Preston to Manchester electrification and route modernisation), he has the accountability for the engineering aspects of the project from the Network Rail perspective.

He has led the engineering through detailed design and implementation of the project over the last three years and is currently working hard to ensure commissioning and finally bringing into operational use in December 2018.

The challenge on Phase 4 has been acute for a variety of engineering reasons (e.g. shallow mining risks) through to the loss of our major contractor (Carillion liquidation) at the start of the year.

In this John has had to lead the task of re-establishing the engineering assurance arrangements whilst trying to keep approvals moving, and works continuing on-site, to avoid further delays.

The sheer number of interfaces that the project has in general, and John has had to integrate in practise, is the most complex that I have witnessed in nearly thirty years on the Railway.

Not to mention John’s own individual efforts and determination with respect to the safety of the workforce and the public, he has spent many weekends out on site doing safety tours etc (despite a young family), to help arrest what we’re worrying trends for occupational safety. Indeed, when the issues being found on site raised concerns over the overall site supervision, John initiated a Safety Stand Down until the issues were resolved and all staff re-briefed.

The fact that we have an improving record on safety now is in no small part due to John’s efforts to challenge unsafe situations and behaviours.

Even when the project struggles to meet the deadlines, John is always trying find ways with the team to mitigate those issues safely, so that we remain focussed on delivering electrification and journey time improvement by the December 2018 timetable.

The project has been a serious challenge for the team, providing more than enough reasons for anyone to lose focus, lose faith or to accept improper situations because of the pressures associated with delivering a £420m+ project. But John has shown great strength of character and determination to do the right thing, through demonstration of personal commitment, leading by his own example, and by challenging and holding to account, those around him.

Considering that this project provides great improvements in the network through electrification, converting (level) crossings to bridges, increasing linespeed to 100MPH to reduce journey times, and increasing capacity through Bolton Station, John’s efforts will be to the benefit of the travelling public (and our neighbours) in the North West for years to come.“