Jim Cornell interviewed by Frank Paterson (session 2 of 2)

Oral history interview with Jim Cornell, conducted and recorded by Frank Paterson (session 2) at Network Rail Headquarters, 1 Eversholt Street, London on 5 February 2019. Duration: 50 min. 20 sec. Achievements as Group Managing Director of British Rail Infrastructure Services (BRIS) 1993-1996; restructuring for privatisation; staff reductions; trade union relationships; full value not realised; relationships with Railtrack; scope of contract; specification difficulties; split between maintenance and renewals; contract length issue; refused possessions for essential safety maintenance; payments withheld; tripartite meeting with Department of Transport (DoT)/Treasury; Railtrack lack of appreciation of civil engineering; management of 13 BRIS units; railway deteriorated; Railtrack failure; 8 years as Network Rail Board Non-Executive Director

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.