Head of Site appointed for Long Marston

19 February 2021 | Porterbrook

Porterbrook has announced the appointment of Mark Knowles as Head of Site for the Long Marston rail facility.

Mark brings to this new role a wide range of first-hand operational and engineering experience.

Previous senior roles include Managing Director of Arriva Train Care and Interim Engineering Director at Knorr-Bremse Rail Services. Mark has also supported a range of rail related businesses in a consultancy role.

As well as supporting initial mobilisation at the Long Marston site, he will also take on longterm development and operational management of the Warwickshire facility.

Jason Groombridge, Director of Engineering Services, commented: “We are delighted to have attracted such a high calibre candidate. Mark brings deep knowledge of the rail industry and shares our passion and vision for the Long Marston facility”.

Mark Knowles, Head of Site, said: “I am really proud to have been appointed by Porterbrook to oversee the transformation of this historic location to meet the needs of the future railway. I look forward to working with colleagues across our company and industry to make this a reality”.

Mark will be reporting to Neil Foster, Fleet Services Director.

Porterbrook takes over the Long Marston facility at the end of June 2021, under a 15-year lease with site owner St. Modwen. The extensive rail-connected rail facility covers 135 acres and consists of 12 miles of storage sidings, a two-mile test-track loop, a short length of electrified line and a number of rail served light maintenance structures.

Notes to Editors


Media Contacts

Porterbrook Leasing
Rupert Brennan Brown, Director of Stakeholder Engagement
[email protected] or +44 (0)7973 950 923

Financial or corporate PR enquiries can also be directed to:
Maitland/AMO
James Isola, Partner
[email protected]
James McFarlane, Partner
[email protected] or +44 (0)20 7379 5151

About Porterbrook

  • Porterbrook has been at the heart of the UK rail network for over 25 years and currently owns almost a third of the national passenger rail fleet
  • The company currently has almost 4,500 vehicles on lease or on order. Since privatisation, it has invested £3bn in 2,500 new passenger and freight vehicles, and is aiming to invest over £1bn in UK rail over the coming years
  • Porterbrook works with a significant number of UK companies across the rail supply chain, investing £3 million per week and supporting around 7,000 UK jobs
  • The company is also spending tens of millions of pounds in a significant upgrade of its fleets to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality over the coming years
  • Porterbrook employs over 150 people of which three quarters are engineers and project managers. In addition, over a third of the company’s workforce is female including a number of our executive team which compares favourably to the UK rail industry average of 16% (source: Women In Rail)
  • In October 2014, the Porterbrook Group of companies was acquired by a consortium of investors including Alberta Investment Management Corporation (“AIMCo”), Allianz Capital Partners (“ACP”) on behalf of certain insurance companies of the Allianz Group, EDF Invest and a consortium of Utilities Trust of Australia (“UTA”), The Infrastructure Fund (“TIF”) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Pension Fund (“RBS”)