Network Rail has announced its new chief executive officer is to start work earlier than planned. 

Mark Carne's decision has come following the unprecedented bout of bad weather currently playing havoc with the nation's transport network. It will also give outgoing boss David Higgins more time to concentrate on his new position as executive chairman of the HS2 project.

The new chief has been with Network Rail since January 6th and has been spending the time visiting the railway and meeting staff, while also witnessing first-hand the effect the torrential rain had on the train line at Dawlish. Mr Carne is the former executive vice-president for Shell in the Middle East and north Africa.

Richard Parry-Jones, chairman of Network Rail, commented: "With so much going on at the moment and the atrocious weather affecting our customers and testing the resilience of both our people and the network, we thought it best Mark get his feet under the table sooner rather than later."

The new boss will take charge on February 24th.