Neil Sachdev appointed as Permanent Chair of EWR Co

Transport Secretary appoints Neil Sachdev as Chair of the East West Railway Company, overseeing delivery of a new direct rail link between Oxford and Cambridge.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has appointed Nilesh (Neil) Sachdev as Chair of the East West Railway Company (EWR Co).

Neil has been appointed for a term of 3 years and will oversee the delivery of the East West Rail project, which will deliver a new direct rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, serving towns and cities along the Oxford-Cambridge arc.

He replaces Rob Brighouse, who has served as the founding chairman of EWR Co since 2017.

Neil brings a wealth of leadership experience at board level and strong commercial and business acumen. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Network Rail Property Limited and Chair of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation Board for the Ministry of Defence. He has previously held a variety of senior leadership positions in the energy, property and retail sectors.

I’d like to welcome and congratulate Neil, who joins this project at a hugely exciting time, following an injection of £760 million to kick off a new phase in delivering the railway. East West Rail will serve as a catalyst for growth along the Oxford-Cambridge arc by creating jobs and improving connectivity.

I am also very grateful to Rob Brighouse for the excellent job he has done as founding chair, establishing the company, preparing the ground for the recent investment decision and leading the organisation through its considerable growth.

I thank Rob, who has not only initiated this project, but provided strong leadership in delivering the first stage of the project and building a great team at EWR Co.

I am looking forward to working with the EWR Co team, all our local stakeholder communities and businesses to deliver growth for the local economy and build on the exciting vision of the EWR project.