Railwayman. Born in Dundee into a railway family, he had not intended to enter the industry but was soon working as a signalman, initially at Broughty Ferry. He was soon promoted to a supervisor at the Edinburgh signalling centre and was appointed traffic manager for Intercity in 1988. By 1992, he was performance planning manager at Scotland's rail headquarters in Glasgow. He joined the privatised Railtrack in 1994, eventually rising to become London-based Operations Director of their successor Network Rail in 2002, with responsibility for running the entire British railway network. He also served as Chair of the Institution of Rail Operators.