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Stewart Francis has resigned from his post as Chair of the new Rail Passengers Council for personal reasons.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling recently appointed Stewart Francis to chair the restructured Rail Passengers Council. Stewart has now resigned because of ill health and the Secretary of State for Transport wrote to him today to accept his resignation.
In a Written Statement to Parliament Alistair Darling said:
"Unfortunately, because of ill health, Stewart Francis has resigned from his position as Chair of the new RPC. I understand and support his decision."
"Stewart has been the key architect of the organisation's reform and his contribution over the last year in particular has been vital."
"His involvement in the RPC network and advocacy on behalf of rail passengers over the last 8 years must also be commended. I wish him well for the future."
Stewart Francis said:
"It is with regret that since accepting the appointment as Chairman of the new Rail Passengers Council, I have had to tender my resignation from the post for health reasons."
"I am enormously proud of the achievements of the RPC to date and the exciting plans that I have developed for the future of passenger representation. These are on the point of coming to fruition and I am confident that the foundations are in place to ensure that the new organisation will be a great success."
"The railways are getting better for passengers and I am pleased to have played a part in this"
Notes to Editors
1. Stewart was first appointed as Chair of the current RPC in February 2000 and re-appointed in February 2004. Previously he was Chairman of the Rail Users Consultative Committee (RUCC) for Eastern England - and was the Deputy Chairman of the Central Rail Users Consultative Committee (CRUCC).
2. The current RPC consists of 9 Chairmen (8 from the Committees and one from the London Transport Users Committee) and 6 Independent Members. There are 8 regional Rail Passenger Committees - one for each of the six English regions and one each for Scotland and Wales. In London, LTUC is responsible for representing the needs of rail passengers.
3. Proposals to reform the RPC were contained in the Government's White Paper 'The Future of Rail' published in July 2004 and the Railways Act 2005, which received Royal Assent on 7th April, put in place the legislation necessary for this reform. The provisions in the Act abolish the current RPC and the regional committees and replace them with a single, GB wide organisation, also called the Rail Passengers Council. We are still expecting the new RPC to come into existence in July.
4. The new RPC will be a body corporate, executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB). The duties of the Rail Passengers Council are principally set out in the Railways Act 2005 together with the Railways Act 1993 and the Transport Act 1962.
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