‘Inspirational’ Northern employee wins award for making engineering safer and more efficient

Rebecca Prendergast was named Young Professional of the Year at the Rail Business Awards, during a ceremony in Manchester on Thursday.

Known as Beckie, she originally joined Northern as a train conductor in 2013 but moved to the engineering team five years later.

She rose through the ranks after completing Northern's Horizon management programme and now works as a senior production manager for operations at the TrainCare Centre in Newton Heath.

“It was incredible to receive this award and for my achievements to be noticed,” she said.

“It’s also great for the depot. Even though this is an individual award, I couldn’t have done this without the team I’ve got around me.

“I’ve only been in this role for 12 months, but I really enjoy it. Every day is a new day and a challenge. That’s what I thrive on. If it wasn’t like that I’d be bored.”

Beckie, who lives in Manchester and works at the depot with her dad, has been credited for introducing a new automated signalling system, which has improved reliability for customers by making it quicker and easier for drivers to drop trains off at the depot.

She also spent several months re-writing the operational rules for the depot, to bring them in line with the latest industry regulations and help Northern deliver its ambitious engineering transformation programme.

The nomination submitted by her manager said Rebecca is “passionate about improvement” and has introduced new initiatives to make engineering “more efficient and safer”.

She was praised for being “enthusiastic and positive about her role” and described as “an inspirational ambassador for both Northern and for women working in rail”.

It added: “Supporting other women – both internally and within the industry – is very important to her and she enjoys sharing her experiences to help progress careers within the industry. 

“Her proactive approach to work and her passion for the railway, regularly see Beckie go above and beyond what is expected of her in her role.

“Her contribution to the team, to engineering, to Northern and to the railway industry is to be commended.”

Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.