Philip Wiltshire interviewed by Frank Paterson

Oral history interview with Philip Wiltshire, conducted and recorded by Frank Paterson at the National Railway Museum, York on 10 October 2018. Duration: 1 hr. 25 min. 57 sec. Early career; Assistant Divisional Engineer Doncaster 1967; Retford South and Lincolnshire level crossing; Assistant Divisional Engineer Stratford 1968; culture; Liverpool Street derailments; Divisional Engineer Norwich 1971; half barriers for wheel-gated level crossings on trunk roads near Cambridge; Newcastle Divisional Engineer 1982; staffing problems; Group Standards organisation 1992; promoting good operating and technical practice; Health & Safety Executive (HSE); Safety & Standards moved to Railtrack; new standards emerged by consensus; discussions with Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI); informal liaison with European railways; Union internationale des chemins de fer (UIC); European Train Control System (ETCS); changes after retirement; impact of privatisation; WS Atkins consultant; post-Ladbroke Grove accident signals passed at danger (SPAD) project; Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann (IE)) review of signalling principles Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) licensing scheme

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.