Chiltern Railways’ managing director Rob Brighouse has announced he is to step down at the end of the year.

Mr Brighouse first joined the rail operator in 2000 as projects director, where he led the Evergreen 1 and 2 infrastructure projects and also the building of Chiltern’s Wembley depot.

He went on to lead the Chiltern/MTRC joint venture bid for London Overground and became deputy managing director in 2007 before returning to Chiltern as managing director in 2011.

Following his return Mr Brighouse oversaw the completion of the £130 million Evergreen 3 investment to speed up services between the West Midlands and London.

He also led the construction of a new rail link between Oxford and London, the first between London and a major British city in over 100 years.

Mr Brighouse said: “After 40 years in the rail industry and 15 great years with Chiltern Railways and its sister company London Overground Rail Operations, I have taken the difficult decision to step down in order to spend a little more time on some of my interests outside the rail sector, including charitable works on water and sanitation in East Africa.

“I will truly miss the remarkably talented people within the business - they are, without doubt, the best I have ever had the privilege to work with.

“Given the considerable progress we have made in recent years, Chiltern Railways is well positioned for continued growth and the strong, cohesive leadership team will take the company to even greater success.”

Chris Burchell, managing director at Arriva UK Trains, said: “Rob has made a significant contribution to the growth and development of Chiltern Railways and Arriva UK Trains as a whole.

“His drive, energy and strategic leadership leave a strong legacy evidenced by the business achieving top end results in performance and customer satisfaction.

“The process to identify Rob’s successor for 2016 is well underway and with the strong Chiltern team focused on building on these results and the opening of its new railway to Oxford, the future is bright for this innovative and progressive franchise.

“At the same time, Rob will be very much missed and all of us at Arriva wish him well for the future.”