Five out of eight managers have gotten off the Go-Ahead train – E24

Five of the eight senior managers have left the original senior management group at the Go-Ahead train company.

The latest to resign is the director of safety and quality, Jan Vetle Moen. This is confirmed by Moen himself to E24.

He states that he is working on the layoff until January 1, 2021 and does not wish to comment further on the matter. Four other top executives have already left Go-Ahead since the launch, something E24 mentioned in July.

The British train company took over the traffic of Sørlandsbanen, Jærbanen and Arendalsbanen on December 15, 2019 and therefore it has not yet been a full year in operation.

It came from a consulting company

Of the remaining original senior managers, under CEO Cathrine Elgin, only IT manager Kent Kolnes now has prior experience in the rail sector, according to information from Linkedin. Also, Elgin herself has a past at Flytoget, where she was head of security for several years.

Jan Vetle Moen had 11 years of experience in NSB’s passenger train business when he joined consultancy Proactima in 2017, which worked on the tender for Sørlandsbanen, Arendalsbanen and Jærbanen.

Proactima competed for the tender on behalf of British Go-Ahead. During the bidding, Cathrine Elgin was the transportation sector manager at Proactima and was also named bidding director. When victory was secured, Elgin was named CEO and Moen became chief of safety and quality.

– Cathrine and Jan Vetle have been involved throughout the tender phase and have extensive knowledge and experience of Norwegian railways in several different areas, Go-Ahead Nordic CEO Magnus Hedin said in a press release regarding the commissioning. march of the Norwegian department.

– Therefore, of course, it is very good to involve them in future work and in our establishment in Sørlandsbanen, Hedin added at the time.

Tempting offers elsewhere

Go-Ahead Norway also confirms the latest departure to E24. Moen resigned from his position in September, says business manager Tonje Løkaas Fossum, who joined the company this summer.

– It is true that our talented colleague Jan Vetle resigns to start a new job. That’s the way it is with trained colleagues: they often get interesting and tempting offers elsewhere.

– Jan Vetle has played an important role in our bidding, mobilization, commissioning and operation process. He has been with us on the trip for three years and we have a great understanding that now he wants to do something else. We wish him the best of luck, Fossum writes in an email.

E24 requested an interview with CEO Cathrine Elgin, but received the response that she has been busy in meetings.

Compared to entrepreneurship

Former operations manager Yngve Kloster is now assuming the role of safety and quality manager, the company claims. Erlend Nyheim replaces Kloster as operations manager. They both have great and long experience, says Fossum.

– And as I understand it, we noted the last time you defended this: we have moved from a start-up phase to an operational phase. It’s like going from entrepreneurship to operation. So it’s natural for someone to want new challenges, he writes.

– Go-Ahead is not an entrepreneurial company, it is the largest railway operator in the United Kingdom, according to its own pages. (…) These are not young start-ups, they are experienced managers with extensive résumés, why have they decided to leave Go-Ahead?

– Go-Ahead Norway is an independent Norwegian company. And yes, up to the beginning we largely functioned as an entrepreneurial company. And by that I mean scaling from zero to operation at a great pace, long days and everyone has had the feeling of having unfamiliar job tasks at times.

– (…) That experienced managers have received interesting offers outside the company, we do not see it as unnatural. The journey they have taken on Go-Ahead is unique in the Norwegian rail context and helps make our employees attractive in the job market, writes Fossum.

Won the award

Kristin Monstad, Head of Communications and Public Relations, Ove Jakobsen, Head of Service and Competition, Kristoffer Jakobsen, Head of Finance and Business Manager Charlotte Malling have left the company.

Only the last two positions would be replaced, the company reported in July.

On October 17, 2018 it became known that British Go-Ahead won the tender for the Sørlandsbanen ahead of NSB and Swedish SJ.

The following month, Aftenposten and Klassekampen had access to a review that showed NSB had beaten Go-Ahead by 12 out of 15 quality points, while two were tied.

NSB was rated the best in organization and management, while SJ was the best in customer satisfaction and train equipment management. Go-Ahead, which won the bid, was the best price.