High Speed Rail Group appoints former HS1 boss as chair

The High Speed Rail Group has appointed a former chief executive of HS1 as its new chair.

Dyan Perry was in charge of HS1, the route which links London with the Channel Tunnel, for more seven years until her retirement earlier this year. Perry is also a former chief operating officer of Govia Thameslink Railway.

The group, which called last autumn’s decision to cancel the HS2’s leg between Birmingham and Manchester as a “recipe for disaster”, said she had been appointed to “offer advice and support the board of directors to shape the group’s future strategic direction”.

Perry added: “High speed rail is about more than quicker journey times. Its development stimulates economic activity by creating jobs and encouraging private investment in related industries like technology, urban development and logistics, and as such is an important driver of regional and national economic growth.”