Network Rail has appointed former head of IT delivery Susan Cooklin to the role of chief information officer (CIO).

Cooklin joined Network Rail in 2006, having spent 20 years in IT and operational roles within the financial services sector at firms such as Barclays Bank.

She reports directly to Catherine Doran - formerly CIO and winner of the 2008 Computing’s IT Leader of the Year award - who became head of corporate development last October, with responsibility for both technology and the group-wide transformation agenda.

In her new job, Cooklin will lead the activities underpinning a £1bn IT overhaul to support a transformation project the firm described as “the biggest expansion of Britain’s railways since the age of Brunel”.

According to Doran, taking on responsibility for the overall transformation programme is a full-time job meaning she had to give up sole responsibility for IT.

"[The CIO role] is very important at Network Rail and it is critical to our success that we have a thriving IT organisation. We had to find the right person to make that work and we promoted from within, which is fabulous," Doran told Computing.