Network Rail chief Sir David Higgins to depart next year

Network Rail is starting the hunt for a successor to chief executive Sir David Higgins, who is expected to stand down next year after three years in the job.

Higgins has asked the board to ensure a handover is in place for the job of running Britain's rail infrastructure. He is expected to leave after the start of the next five-year funding period for the state-owned company, which begins in April 2014.

Higgins was never expected to stay until the end of the next five-year programme, and he accepted the job in 2011 on the basis he would be gone before the end of 2019. However, he appears to have decided to quit sooner rather than later. He is understood to have signalled his intention to go in order to provide plenty of time for his replacement to be established without any hiatus.

Government sources described the news as a blow. Stability and success at Network Rail has been highly valued at a time when the franchising of train services has been thrown into chaos by the west coast debacle, which saw Virgin Rail stripped of the London-to-Glasgow contract and then reinstated.

Network Rail has also started to deliver significant cost savings at a time when the government has stated it wants to hugely reduce a taxpayer subsidy of around £4bn a year.

Higgins's decision also comes in the wake of a renewed row over executive pay, with his annual bonus forfeited last year and capped at under £100,000 in 2013. Trade unions had attacked a long-term scheme that could have seen Higgins top up his £577,000 base pay to an earnings total of £1.5m in 2015, but he now looks set to have walked away before that controversial moment comes.

The operator of Britain's railway tracks and stations has also been embroiled in rows over punctuality, with Virgin Rail suing over recent failures on the west coast line, and the regulator setting tougher targets for the next five-year period.

The highly regarded Higgins, an Australian engineer, took over from Iain Coucher at Network Rail after earning plaudits as head of the Olympic Delivery Authority until 2011.

Potential internal successors include fellow directors Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations, and Simon Kirby, managing director of infrastructure projects, credited with delivering the revamped King's Cross station in London and the future electrification of much of the track network.

Network Rail is planning over £37.5bn worth of investment over the next five years, subject to regulatory approval from the industry watchdog, at a time when the £14.8bn Crossrail project will start running in London. Before 2019 work is also scheduled to begin on the High Speed 2 north-south rail network.

Higgins' departure will be seen as a blow as he has been held in high esteem by the government and rail industry. Unions also praised Higgins for transforming the culture of the track operator.

Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said: "Sir David Higgins has done a good job in turning NR around after the difficulties experienced under the previous regime. He removed its bullying culture and placed a new emphasis on safety which had been sadly lacking. He was slowly restoring the company's reputation and we would have liked him to stay around to finish the job he had started. He will be a hard act to follow."

Network Rail declined to comment.

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