Northern appoints new head of engineering as major fleet upgrade continues apace

He joins the UK’s second largest train operator later this month (21 March) from Merseyrail, where he was head of fleet and engineering.

In his new role, Plumbley will manage major fleet projects and performance enhancement schemes aimed at improving the maintenance and performance of Northern’s rolling stock and help deliver new asset information systems.

Commenting on his appointment, Jack Commandeur, engineering director at Northern, said: “Tony has a wealth of experience of engineering in the rail industry.

“His experience of managing a legacy fleet whilst simultaneously overseeing the introduction of all-new, state of the art rolling stock makes him a great addition to the Northern team.”

Tony Plumbley added: “Northern has an ambitious programme of fleet upgrades in the pipeline and I look forward to working with their teams across the North of England to deliver those for the business and ultimately for our customers to enjoy.”

Plumbley, who lives in Northwich, has previously worked for Knorr-Bremse, Cross Country, Arriva and Bombardier.

Northern operates more than 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.