Michèle Dix

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 5 February 1955) is a British civil engineer. She is the managing director of

Crossrail 2 Crossrail 2 is a proposed hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It would connect the ...

and had previously been the director of planning for Transport for London. In 2016, Dix was named as one of the

Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering In 2016 the Women's Engineering Society (WES), in collaboration with the ''Daily Telegraph'', produced an inaugural list of the United Kingdom's Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering, which was published on National Women in Engineering Day on ...

Early life

As Michèle Holland, she attended Cleethorpes Girls' Grammar School. Dix gained a degree in civil engineering from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

before studying for a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in transport and land use planning at the university's Institute for Transport Studies which she was awarded in 1982.

Career

She worked for the Greater London Council for six years as a traffic planner developing traffic policies and planning new road schemes. She became a

chartered engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...

through the council's graduate development scheme. Dix subsequently joined engineering consultancy Halcrow Fox and became their board director for urban transport planning. She is a fellow of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

, of the

Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (formerly the Institution of Highways and Transportation) is a UK-based learned society (with worldwide membership) concerned specifically with the planning, design, construction, maintenan ...

and of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. After 15 years at Halcrow, Dix joined Transport for London in 2000 as co-director of

congestion charging Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tele ...

, in which role she was responsible for development of the London Low Emission Zone. She was promoted to managing director of planning in 2007 with responsibilities for planning the future transport needs of London, coordinating local plans and developing major transportation schemes. On 5 February 2015 she was made managing director of

, a proposed £27 billion high-capacity rail line to connect Surrey and Hertfordshire with London and provide additional capacity to the rail network. Dix was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to transport in London. She was described as "the best transport planner in Britain" by Sir

Peter Hendy Peter Gerard Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill (born 19 March 1953) is a British transport executive and politician. He is the current chairman of Network Rail and was formerly the Commissioner of Transport for London. Education Hendy was ...

and was named as one of the

in 2016. Dix has stated that when she retires she would like to "run a

tea room A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

– baking cakes and serving teas".

Personal life

She married in 1977, with a son and daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dix, Michele 1955 births British civil engineers Living people British women engineers 20th-century British engineers 21st-century British engineers Alumni of the University of Leeds People from Cleethorpes Transport for London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century women engineers 21st-century women engineers