Chris Green interviewed by Frank Paterson

Oral history interview with Chris Green, conducted and recorded by Frank Paterson on 19 September 2018 at King’s Cross Offices, London. Duration 1 hr. 56 min. 31 sec. British Rail (BR) trainee 1965; Area Manager Hull; 1977 South West Divisional operations; trade union power; Operations Manager ScotRail; Managing Director (MD) London & South East sectors 1986; Network SouthEast (NSE) small team until 1991; matrix organisation; first 100 days of NSE; relationship with David Mitchell (Minister of Transport); Organising for Quality (OfQ); Managing Director (MD) InterCity; NSE and InterCity comparison; InterCity brand; preparing for privatisation; passenger satisfaction high; politicians’ refusal to debate; focus on quality; reducing train crews; John MacGregor (Secretary of State for Transport) TV announcement; privatisation model; relationship between government and the Board; oversaw 7 profit centres; keeping the InterCity brand post-privatisation; development of Great Western franchise; return to Scotrail 1993; English Heritage and consultancy experiences; Virgin Managing Director; last days of InterCity; good working relationship with (Richard) Branson; Virgin CrossCountry and West Coast franchises; implementation of privatisation in short period; Gatwick Express; impact on individuals; career highlights

One of over 150 oral history recordings made as part of the Britain’s Railways All Change (BRAC) archive project. BRAC was set-up to cover gaps in documenting the railway privatisation process in the United Kingdom, between 1994 and 1997, when the government-owned British Rail was dismantled into over 100 privately-owned companies. The interviews capture the recollections of people involved in the planning and implementation of the privatisation process, the management of change and running the railway during privatisation.