Charles Belcher Interviewed by Gordon Dudman

Oral history interview with Charles Belcher, conducted and recorded by Gordon Dudman at the Hitachi Offices, London on 3 June 2019. Duration: 57 min. 9 sec. Overview of career; sacking staff supplementing earnings; Red Star success; trade union dispute; Miners’ Strike; National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) support; overseeing Post Office and newspaper trains; scope of Post Office operations on rail; first prospect of privatisation; negotiations after renewal of the Royal Mail contract; preparation for privatisation; Rail Express Systems (RES); management buyout (MBO) Impact of creation of Railtrack on RES; Railtrack understanding of their obligations; MBO unsuccessful; discussion with Ed Burkhardt (Wisconsin Central); impact of unsuccessful bid; Royal Train contract; joining Silverlink; challenges of managing newly created train operating company (TOC)

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.