The RailStaff Awards 2024

Nominations for Project Manager Of The Year

Ben Roberts

Said the following about Lauren Johnson - **HAS LEFT**:

“A £6.6m Station Information and Security Systems partnership project between Virgin Trains, Network Rail and Telent has concluded this year. At the centre of this delivery was VT Project Manager Lauren Johnson overseeing the implementation of this huge scope to go from design, implementation and hand-over into maintenance.

As a result of this project we now have; automated announcements (freeing up our people to provide ever better customer service), the best digital CCTV security systems (we are the first TOC to have this ‘best-in-class’ technology, which can automate monitoring for all sorts of situations including anti-suicide measures) and foundations for developing ground-breaking improvements in the way we operate our stations.

Implementation cut across a wide variety of departments within Virgin Trains; the Estates team, Procurement, Contract Management, Information Technology, Station Management, Operations and the Safety team as well as agencies such as the BtP and DfT. On top of this, delivery required not just project management skills but contract management skills as well when our CCTV maintenance provider was also contracted to Telent part-way through the project – a contract change that could have gone very badly indeed given the historical maintenance provider but was handled extremely well and with great success by Lauren. As a result of this, the response and standard of CCTV maintenance has improved immeasurably, bringing down equipment repair time and reducing system outages to a minimum.

During this time, Lauren has maintained fantastic working relationships with all the partners and suppliers whilst ensuring that the scope and functionality of the deliveries remain true to the original design and of a high quality, something that required a firm stance and eagle eye. Special praise has come from the Network Rail Sponsor who has held the delivery of this project up as a shining example of how collaborative working should be delivered.

This nomination not only recognises the huge part Lauren has played in bringing this project to fruition, but the huge learning that she has undertaken in order to achieve this fabulous result; when starting this project she had not yet finished her REDtrack undergraduate training!

It truly has been an epic story from all angles, well done Lauren!“

Eirian Edge (Telent)

Said the following about Lauren Johnson - **HAS LEFT**:

“An accomplished professional, Lauren’s 'can-do' approach in the PM role means she is a joy to work with on any project, irrespective of complexity or length.

Enthusiastic, motivated and motivating to all stakeholders be they technical, management or client. A positive team player, great all-rounder and very knowledgeable.

A pleasure to work with.“