New Year Honours - MBE for Julian Crow of First Great Western

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Western Morning News:

Rail boss, weather forecaster and art expert recognised in New Year Honours list

Scientists, sports stars and business leaders have been named alongside unsung heroes from the charity and arts world in the New Year Honours list for Devon and Somerset. Gardeners, conservationists, carers and the region's railway chief also joined the annual roll call as the great and good were rewarded for their endeavours.

Fresh from the battle to keep flood-hit Westcountry rail lines open, First Great Western's regional manager in the West, Julian Crow, received the MBE.

Mr Crow, 61, who lives in Newton Ferrers in the South Hams, said he had been "surprised" and "thrilled" by the honour.

"It is a lovely thing to happen towards the end of a long career," he said. "My wife is thrilled and deserves at least half of it. Having spent so long in the rail industry you just keep your head down and get on with it."

Mr Crow, who was commended for services to the rail industry joined British Rail as a trainee and rose through the ranks, joining Great Western just before privatisation in the 1990s.

As regional manager during the latest franchise he says he is most proud of the renaissance in branch line trains, which has seen record numbers of passengers on half a dozen small lines in Devon and Cornwall. "The real enjoyment has been managing the local services, which are doing better than ever in their history," he added.

Congratulations and best wishes, Julian! 

[polymath]

Great news, and a fitting reward for someone who has worked tirelessly for rail in the South West. He has provided unstinting support for all the organisations and user groups involved with developing rail services in the area, as well a being the calm voice of reason when frequently placed in front of the camera after things have gone wrong.A well deserved honour.

[trainer]

Good to see commitment to good service recognised.  The worst fears of many people about the local services under First have not come to fruition thanks to people like Julian Crow.

[chuffed]

More than can be said for some of the rest of the nations services under Bob Crowe of the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Erm ... it's Bob Crow - but no relation. 

[chuffed]

Perhaps we could persuade them to become MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)'s ... the start of a Parliament of Crows ??

[Chris from Nailsea]

A very PC response. 

[ChrisB]

I understand Julian is retiring on 16th March.....or close to this date. I for one will be sorry to see him go, but I've wished him a restful retirement.

[JayMac]

Indeed, the same sentiments from me.

I meet him for the first time at TravelWatch SouthWest this past Saturday. Whilst I was slightly brow beating him about the Help Point/CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) at Shirehampton, he was approachable and sympathetic. Even agreeing with me that it shouldn't have taken six months to replace.

Julian had the final word at the TWSW^» (TravelWatch SouthWest - website) meeting, telling the audience about his time in the industry and how he plans to spend his retirement. He'll be found in a deckchair watching the trains go by at Dawlish!

[grahame]

I understand Julian is retiring on 16th March.....or close to this date. I for one will be sorry to see him go, but I've wished him a restful retirement.

See also http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=8911.0

(difficult to search for him on this web site - we also get Bob Crow and Overcrowding in our results )

[RichardB]

Just to say that Julian is not finishing quite as early as 16 March.  He is going three days a week from then and finishing completely on 31 May.