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Serco appoints new Great Southern Rail Chief Executive Officer

Serco appoints new Great Southern Rail Chief Executive Officer

Serco announced today that Chris Tallent has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Rail (GSR). GSR delivers Australia’s Great Train Journeys - the iconic Ghan and Indian Pacific as well as The Overland and The Southern Spirit and has over 400 employees, providing world-class rail journeys to over 140,000 international and domestic tourists each year.

Chris joins GSR with over 25 years experience across a wide variety of senior operational, development, finance and company executive roles in the Hotel, Resort and Tourism sectors most recently as CEO of Voyages Hotels & Resorts for the past 5 years.

He has extensive hospitality and tourism experience having worked across some of the most iconic resort facilities in Australia including Ayers Rock Resort, Hamilton Island, Hayman Island, El Questro (The Kimberley), Cradle Mountain Lodge (Tasmania), Lizard Island, Heron Island and Kings Canyon Resort (NT).

In addition to overseeing all of these Resort facilities, his previous roles have also seen him successfully oversee, amongst other aspects, the operation of the Jet Airports at Ayers Rock and Hamilton Island, the marketing, operation and safe practices of Voyages Marine and Hayman Island Marine and the management of the sales and marketing function for Voyages Air. Chris will begin his new role in February.

He commented: “I am thrilled to be joining the team at Great Southern Rail. I look forward to growing with the business and ensuring it remains as Australia‟s most iconic rail company, delivering unforgettable rail holiday experiences‟.

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David Campbell, Serco Chief Executive Officer, said of the appointment: “I am delighted that Chris will be joining Great Southern Rail as CEO. His leadership, experience,and energy will bring tremendous value to the company. He has a deep understanding of major domestic and international markets and is well equipped to lead the company through the next phase of its evolution.”