A new managing director and chief operating officer have taken the helm at train operator Northern.

As managing director, Tricia Williams now leads the UK’s second largest train operator, an organisation that makes an annual contribution to the national economy of £1.25bn.

Williams has been with Northern since 2020 when she joined the organisation as chief operating officer.

Prior to working at Northern, she held a number of executive roles at Manchester Airports Group where she delivered sustained customer growth and transformation. She also spent 20 years at United Utilities Group in a range of operational leadership and strategic transformation roles.

In the chief operating officer role, Williams is succeeded by Matt Rice, who joined Northern from Network Rail where he was route director for the North and East route.

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In his role, Rice will lead all Northern service and engineering functions across the North of England, which includes 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations in the region.

Tricia Williams said: “After three great years as chief operating officer, it’s an absolute honour to be taking on the managing director role.

“I know we have big challenges ahead of us but Northern is in a strong position and Matt and the rest of the director leadership team are committed to creating an inclusive culture, improving performance and our customer experience.”

Matt Rice added: “I am looking forward to working with Tricia and my colleagues across the region to deliver for our customers.

“I have spent my career focused on making things better and I am committed to fostering a positive workplace culture for all and delivering great rail services for people across the North of England.”

Rice is supported in his role by three regional directors. Craig Harrop heads-up Northern’s operations in the North West, while Kerry Peters is responsible for Yorkshire, East Midlands and Humberside. Jason Wade was recently appointed to the North East role.