John Self OBE

John, who joined FCP as an Associate Director in 2005, has a background in metro operations with London Underground (LUL) dating from 1966. He held a variety of increasingly senior engineering posts, early appointments including  Project Manager to replace trains on the District line and Rolling Stock Design Engineer leading a technical team involved in the design and specification of new trains and equipment in conjunction with operators and manufacturers. John then moved to the Operating Department as Engineering Manager.

In 1988 John became General Manager of the Victoria line which became LUL's top performing line under his leadership. He subsequently led changes to the way train maintenance was carried out which resulted in a 50% reduction in staff and ongoing cost savings of £25 million per annum. He conducted the negotiations, which delivered the plan with no loss of production.

In 1996 John became General Manager of the Jubilee and East London lines. He oversaw the re-opening of the East London line following a three year closure for major refurbishment and ensured that the £3.5 billion Jubilee line extension project was available for public use ahead of the Millennium deadline set by Government. He was appointed OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2000.

As President of CoMET, an international benchmarking body, he expanded the group to include 9 of the 12 largest Metro systems of the World. The data is widely used by Governments in their strategic planning.

John became an independent consultant in 2000 in which capacity he established and carried out the role of Director of Safety for the Strategic Rail Authority from November 2000 to March 2003 when he became Interim Chief Executive of the Rail Safety and Standards Board Ltd, which took over the functions of Railway Safety Ltd from Network Rail.

After joining FCP and helping to develop its operations practice, from mid 2005 to mid 2006 John undertook the interim role of Head of Operations, London Rail in TfL and in the early part of 2007 was part of a team bidding to operate the London Overground concession.

John has been actively involved with the Institution of Railway Operators since its inception and currently chairs the Education and Professional Development Committee.