Top Civil Servant joins Board of Central Railway
Sir Thomas Legg KCB QC, former Permanent Secretary at the Lord Chancellors Department, has joined the Board of Central Railway, the company proposing to build a new rail link from the North West of England to northern France.
The appointment of Sir Thomas, who conducted the arms to Sierra Leone investigation in 1998, further demonstrates the high level of confidence in the international rail project.
Commenting on his appointment, Sir Thomas Legg said:"The rail industry needs investment and new thinking. Central Railway provides both. The new railway will be good for the economy, good for hauliers, good for business and good for the environment."
Central Railway''s Chairman, Andrew Gritten, said:"With a Government decision on Central Railway imminent, there could not be a more opportune time for me to welcome someone of such experience and calibre to the Company."
Notes for Editors:- Sir Thomas Legg is Chairman of Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
- May 1998: Conducted the Sierra Leone Arms Investigation
- 1989-April 1998: Permanent Secretary, Lord Chancellors Department
- 1982- 1989: Deputy Secretary, Head of Judicial Appointments Group
- Central Railway is proposing to design, build and operate a new lorries-on-trains rail link connecting the North West to northern France. The line will run from Liverpool, via Manchester, Sheffield, the Midlands and London, through the Channel Tunnel to Lille in Northern France.
- Independent estimates have indicated that Central Railway will generate some 5000 construction jobs alone over the five years of building. In addition, about 2000 permanent new railway jobs will be generated. Early studies have suggested that a further 6000 jobs will be created as a result of the improved transport links the railway would provide.
- Christian Wolmar, rail commentator and industry expert, recently described Central Railway as 'a scheme whose time has come'. (Rail magazine, May 2001)