Robert David Holden

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 6 April 1956) is a British

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...

, born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He holds a degree in Economics from Lancaster University. Holden initially worked at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, working on

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

. In 1996, Holden became finance director of

London and Continental Railways London and Continental Railways (LCR) is a property development company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom for developing former railway land. The company was originally established in 1994 as a private consortium to own European Pa ...

("LCR") and soon moved on to chief executive and chairman of LCR and also

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

. He oversaw the two phase construction of a high speed railway line from the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone ( Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles (Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dove ...

to London at a cost of over £5b. The first phase, which terminated at

Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

opened in 2003. The second phase, from Ebbsfleet,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, into

St Pancras Station St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It ...

was opened as

High Speed One High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...

on 6 November 2007. The grand opening of St Pancras station was attended by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

, the Duke of Edinburgh and the prime minister,

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

. Holden was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

for services to the rail industry. In 2009 he was appointed chief executive of

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...

, building a new train line across London. Rob Holden took home £554,495 in pay and benefits, more than £160,000 above the pay package received by TfL commissioner Peter Hendy, who has refused to take his £132,409 bonus. (thisislondon.co.uk) In January 2011 Holden announced his departure from the post of Chief Executive of Crossrail. "It's time in my career to fulfil my ambition for a portfolio of non-executive jobs," Holden told the Daily Telegraph."If I didn't make the move now, I never will. If I stayed at Crossrail until its completion, I will be 63 and that would be too late.The time is right. We awarded major tunneling contracts just before Christmas and now there is no doubt about the project."

Philip Hammond Philip Hammond, Baron Hammond of Runnymede (born 4 December 1955) is a British politician and life peer who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2016 to 2019, Foreign Secretary from 2014 to 2016, and Defence Secretary from 2011 to 2014 ...

, the Transport Secretary, paid tribute saying "Rob has been a great champion for Crossrail during his time in charge of the project, taking it from Royal Assent to the start of construction. Of course, I would have been delighted if he had committed the next eight years of his life to the project but I understand his reasons for leaving and I wish him every success in the future. Thanks to Rob a robust management structure is in place which will ensure the project will continue successfully and will transform London’s transport landscape. The Government is committed to Crossrail and I look forward to working closely with Rob’s successor." Holden is married with two children, and lives in Hertfordshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Rob Living people 1956 births Alumni of Lancaster University British accountants British chief executives Crossrail Commanders of the Order of the British Empire