THE former district manager at British Gas in Bolton, Andrew Newby, has been appointed to a top job with Railtrack North West.

Mr Newby, aged 41, is the new business development manager.

After graduating from Manchester University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he joined British Gas as a trainee on high pressure pipeline construction.

He subsequently spent 21 years with British Gas in a variety of operational and head office roles, both regionally and at the company's London-based headquarters.

When he was in Bolton he was in charge of a unit responsible for all maintenance, repair and extension work on the gas pipeline and infrastructure.

In his new job he will be concerned with enhancing the quality of the railway infrastructure - from signalling to stations.

He said: "My main challenge is to convert customer aspirations into improvements and enhancements to the railway infrastructure, such as track renewal to improve the ride quality and station enhancements to accommodate new train services."

Chris Leah, Railtrack North West's Director, said: "His outside experience will prove invaluable in helping the company to ensure its investment in the rail network benefits its customers, the train operating companies and their customers, the passengers."

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