Network Rail’s CIO, Susan Cooklin, says her biggest challenge is increasing the business literacy of her IT staff. She said the rail company faces a period of restructuring and budget pressures.

Speaking to CIOs at a meeting of Computer Weekly’s 500 Club, Cooklin said the track operator needed people who combined technical and business skills to drive the business forward.

Cooklin, who took over as CIO in late 2009, is responsible for modernising Britain’s railways in a £1 billion IT transformation programme.

The project will see Network Rail upgrading and rationalising its complex portfolio of IT systems, including train systems, business applications and asset management platforms.