Dick Fearn interviewed by Frank Paterson

Oral history interview with Dick Fearn, conducted and recorded by Frank Paterson at the National Railway Museum, York on 20 June 2018. Duration: 3 hr. 50 min. 10 sec. Traffic Student scheme 1973-1977; Station Manager Doncaster; Metals Business Resources Manager York 1986; trainload flows; Manchester Business School 1987; Provincial Services Resource Manager York; Passenger Transport Executives; John Nelson; Network Manager Thames and Chiltern Division 1990-1993; modernisation of Chiltern; Organising for Quality (OfQ); Divisional Director Thames & Chiltern; Total Route Modernisation 1989; bottom line responsibility; driver only operation (DOO) process; trade union negotiation; miners' strike 1984; Lew Adams; restructuring; development of management buyout (MBO) team; John Town; track access agreements; Chris Jago; support for MBO promised; First Group; financial arrangements with First Group; time commitment; Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC); Office of Rail Passenger Franchising (OPRAF) relationships; MBO unsuccessful; Connex; Railtrack Zone Director North West; responsibilities; move to Midland Zone; reliance on contractors; Hitchin accident; Railtrack in Administration; results of privatisation

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.