John Welsby inteviewed by Frank Paterson

Oral history interview with John Welsby, conducted and recorded by Frank Paterson at the Union Jack Club, London on 19 February 2020. Duration: 1 hr. 27 min. 1 sec. Career background; secondment to British Railway Board (BRB); sectorisation; Director Provincial Services; Development of Ralibus; restructuring British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL); Manufacturing & Maintenance (M&M) study; Board Member for Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) 1989; development of Organising for Quality (OfQ); government-railway relationships; Conservative Party conference; Bob Reid 2; Bob Horton (Chief Executive Designate Railtrack); concern over separation of track from trains; Railtrack development; John Edmonds (Chief Executive Railtrack); pensions; relationships with government; Board Members’ incentives; reflections on Clapham accident; relationships with Railtrack; personal impact; delivery without adverse impact on service; key people; change of government; consequences of privatisation

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.