Katie Frost
Chief Executive Officer of Metroline London
Katie Frost didn’t set out with a fixed plan for a career in transport. She joined Network Rail after university because the opportunities appealed to her, and over the next two decades that decision took her through a wide range of operational and leadership roles, from managing King’s Cross station to senior positions across the railway and, now, Chief Executive of Metroline London.
King’s Cross was an earlier senior role that changed how she thought about leadership. Katie describes arriving with a strong operational mindset, before quickly realising that “you manage things and lead people”. She also talks about the value of putting yourself forward before an opportunity appears, whether that’s shadowing colleagues, working nights and sitting in on meetings simply to understand the job better, so that when the Station Manager role came up, she already knew what the role demanded and had shown she was ready to take it on
There is a more personal thread running through the episode too. As Katie became more senior, she had to work out how to adapt her style without sanding off the parts of her personality that made her effective. She calls that judgement the “Katie-meter”: knowing when to dial her energy up or down according to the room. Representation became more important at the same time. Having been the first woman in several senior roles, Katie is clear that being first only means so much if others are able to follow.
Her move into bus has challenged some of her own assumptions about the sector. Katie talks about the relationships drivers build with the communities they serve, and describes garage managers as “mini CEOs” because of the breadth of responsibility they carry. She has also been struck by how quickly bus can respond to change compared with rail. For Katie, it is a sector with more ambition and career potential than its external image sometimes suggests, particularly for people who want to take on responsibility and progress.
What else you’ll learn in this episode
- Why putting yourself forward can change the direction of your career
- Why being the first woman through the door comes with a responsibility to hold it open for others
- Why she believes bus offers far more opportunity, innovation and career progression than many people realise
About Katie Frost
Katie Frost is Chief Executive Officer of Metroline London – the first woman to hold the title in the company’s history. She joined Metroline following more than two decades in the UK transport sector, most recently serving as Route Director, Anglia at Network Rail.
Her career has taken her across frontline operations, infrastructure and senior leadership, including managing King’s Cross station, among others. At Metroline, she has set an ambition to make the business the safest and best-performing operator in London, with a strong focus on developing its people and future leaders.
