Christopher Austin interviewed by Frank Paterson

Oral history interview with Christopher Austin, conducted and recorded by Frank Paterson at the National Railway Museum, York on 13 August 2019. Duration: 1 hr. 18 min. 32 sec. Early work with London Transport; Parliamentary Affairs Manager 1987; remit; correspondence with politicians; evidence to Select Committees; Robert Adley; Peter Snape; Gwyneth Dunwoody; sectors; politician’s issues; contacts and access to politicians; promotion of railway private bills; Peter Snape; briefing for debates; weekly analysis of potential issues; relationships with civil servants; private bills second readings; political party conferences; Adam Smith Institute; Transport 2000; Railway Bill; second reading February 1993; separation of track from trains; Railtrack sale; scrutiny process; House of Lords process; railway pensions and travel facilities; British Railways Board (BRB) excluded from bidding for train operating companies (TOCs); personal impact; London, Tilbury and Southend (LTS) ticket fraud; John Welsby weekly meetings; Bob Reid 2

One of over 150 oral history recordings made as part of the Britain’s Railway 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.