The previous chief executive, Mark Thurston, left in September last year have six-and-a-half years in the role. In the interim, HS2 chairman Sir Jon Thompson has been executive chairman.
Mark Wild is highly respected in the infrastructure sector. His more than 40 years’ experience includes the delivery of complex railway systems, most notably as the CEO of Crossrail.
He joins HS2 at a pivotal moment in the programme’s delivery, with civil engineering works along the route from London to the West Midlands reaching their peak and focus shifting to building the infrastructure to operate the railway.
This new appointment forms part of a series of reforms across the project aimed at bearing down on costs and delivering the scheme on time, in line with recent scope changes announced by the government.
“Mark joins HS2 Ltd with unrivalled experience and a track record of successful delivery, giving confidence that he will drive this hugely complex programme to completion – providing more reliable and faster services for rail users, while boosting the economies of the West Midlands and London. It is a mark of the scale and ambition of HS2 that we can attract a leader of his calibre,” said Sir Jon Thompson.
Wild’s experience includes key roles in the transport and utilities industries, most recently as CEO of SGN, the gas distribution network covering Scotland and south-east England.
Prior to Crossrail, he was managing director of the London Underground and was previously chief executive of Public Transport Victoria, the integrated transport authority based in Melbourne, Australia.
Wild said he was looking forward to leading HS2 “as it progresses from major construction works to its rail systems phase and beyond to the first passenger services. The scale and ambition of HS2 is phenomenal and will deliver wide-reaching benefits for the UK through more jobs, economic growth and better journeys”.
