Former Transport for London senior official Michèle Dix is to join the National Infrastructure Commission from next month, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed.
Dix previously served as managing director of planning at TfL, the mayoral body responsible for most of the capital’s transport network. Most recently she was managing director for the Crossrail 2 project, which aimed to provide a new underground rail link connecting Surrey and Hertfordshire through central London.
Dix is currently a non-executive director of Crossrail International, a specialist practice wholly owned by the Department for Transport that advises global clients on developing and delivering complex rail schemes.
Hunt said Dix’s decades of experience in the transport sector would be a boost for the commission, which is chaired by Sir John Armitt and overseen by the Treasury.
“We need high quality infrastructure to deliver growth and boost productivity,” Hunt said. “Michèle will help ensure that the National Infrastructure Commission has the right skills and talent to help deliver the infrastructure we need.”
Dix started her career at the Greater London Council after gaining a PhD in transport and land-use planning.
Armitt said her experience in developing world-class public transport systems would help to inform the commission’s ongoing work advising government on promoting economic growth across all regions.
“Michèle brings a wealth of knowledge of the transport and planning spheres, and she joins us at an important time just as we publish the second National Infrastructure Assessment,” he said.
Armitt has been a vocal critic of the government’s moves to pare back HS2, which has seen the scrapping of a branch of the high-speed line that would have connected Leeds and the East Midlands to the network and last week’s axing of its Manchester branch.
Dix said she was “very excited” to be joining the commission.
“Having spent over 45 years working in the private and public sector on a multitude of transport projects, I‘m looking forward to bringing my experience to bear as a commissioner,” she said.
The NIC’s new National Infrastructure Assessment is due to be published on 18 October.