Michael Lee interviewed by David Wharton Street (session 1 of 2)

Made:
2019-05-15 in Hertfordshire
maker:
David Wharton-Street

Oral history interview with Michael Lee, conducted and recorded by David Wharton-Street (session1) at the interviewee's home in Hertfordshire on 15 May 2019. Duration: 2 hr. 53 min. 12 sec. Early career; Operational Research; British Rail Engineering Inventory Control; traffic forecasting for small bore version of Channel Tunnel; development and implementation of Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services (ORCATS); sectorisation made possible; Serpell Report; challenged by British Rail (BR); forecasting passenger train loadings and revenue; introduction of Class 43 High Speed train (HST); Age of the Train advertising; InterCity service modelling; move to Network SouthEast (NSE) as Economic Survey Officer; change in passenger loadings; London and South East travelcards; Central London Rail Study; Thameslink; Crossrail; Monopolies & Mergers Commission (M&MC) inquiry into NSE; monitoring passenger satisfaction; second inquiry; Service Route Manager; negotiating with Southern Region management who delivered service; interface between General Manager Southern Region and NSE; Organising for Quality (OfQ); Sub-Sector Planning & Marketing Manager; Head of Strategic Planning NSE; train operating units (TOUs); Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF); structure; liaison with BR and Department for Transport (DfT); development of Passenger Service Requirement (PSR) policy; Save Our Railways; passenger transport executives (PTEs); fares regulation; Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC); Rail Settlement Plan (RSP); fares and franchising; subsidy; types of franchise bidders

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.

Details

Category:
Oral Histories
Collection:
Britain's Railways All Change
Object Number:
2020-329
type:
oral history interview
credit:
Britain’s Railways All Change (BRAC) oral history archive, created in partnership with the Friends of the National Railway Museum, the Retired Railway Officers’ Society and the National Railway Museum.