{"id":397353,"date":"2026-03-31T22:58:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?guid=324d59605a5e6a9d3c3a4978d45fc7d3"},"modified":"2026-03-31T22:58:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:58:57","slug":"office-of-rail-and-road-announces-interim-chief-executive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=397353","title":{"rendered":"Office of Rail and Road announces Interim Chief Executive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Office of Rail and Road announces Interim Chief Executive<\/span>
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The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today announced interim leadership arrangements ahead of the departure of its current Chief Executive, John Larkinson, later in April.<\/div>\n
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Following consideration by the ORR Board, Feras Alshaker, currently Director of Planning and Performance, has been appointed as Interim Chief Executive with effect from Monday 27 April.<\/p>\n

In his current role, Feras has senior responsibility for Britain\u2019s rail and England\u2019s strategic road networks, including oversight of Network Rail, HS1 and National Highways.<\/p>\n

In nearly ten years at ORR, he has led major regulatory interventions affecting passengers, freight users and taxpayers. He will provide continuity as ORR continues to deliver its Transformation Programme and prepares for significant changes in the years ahead.  This includes supporting rail reform, regulatory reform and the increased use of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Declan Collier, Chair at the Office of Rail and Road, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI am very pleased that Feras has agreed to take on the role of Interim Chief Executive. His experience, leadership and deep understanding of ORR will be invaluable as we continue to deliver our priorities for rail reform and navigate a period of significant change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Feras Alshaker said:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI am grateful to the Board for the confidence they have placed in me. I am proud to lead ORR in this interim period as we continue our transformation, support rail reform and ensure effective, proportionate regulation that delivers for passengers, freight users and taxpayers.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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John Larkinson and Feras Alshaker will now work closely together to ensure a smooth transition.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Notes to editors<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain\u2019s railways, and monitor of performance and efficiency for England\u2019s strategic road network.<\/li>\n
  2. To support continuity during this period, Graham Richards has agreed to take on interim responsibility for the ORR Planning and Performance Directorate.<\/li>\n
  3. The process to appoint a permanent Chief Executive is to be led by an independent Civil Service Commissioner. The role is expected to be advertised in early April, with interviews planned for June. Subject to the necessary government approvals, an appointment is expected to be made later this year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Office of Rail and Road announces Interim Chief Executive
    \nTue, 31\/03\/2026 – 12:58<\/p>\n

    31 March 2026<\/p>\n

    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has today announced interim leadership arrangements ahead of the departure of its current Chief Executive, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397353"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397392,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397353\/revisions\/397392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}