Richard Spoors interviewed by Brian Clementson

Oral history interview with Richard Spoors, conducted and recorded by Brian Clementson at the interviewee's home in Buckinghamshire on 10 July 2018. Duration: 1 hr. 29 min. 25 sec. Early career; Clapham accident; move into Rail Privatisation Unit at British Railways Board (BRB) Headquarters; John Palmer; creation of Railtrack; aftermath of accidents; preparation for a new safety regime; Train Protection Warning System (TWPS); Hatfield accident; tilting trains for West Coast Main Line (WCML); privatisation; reporting lines to BRB and Department for Transport/Treasury; open access; separation of track from trains; management buyouts (MBOs); Railtrack; McKinsey consultants; different views on Railtrack set up; Railtrack vesting; organisational structure; British Rail Infrastructure Services (BRIS); division of responsibilities; safety validation; personal career trajectory; Eurostar; Hatfield accident; Southall accident; move to Railtrack; culture change; track issues; professional training after privatisation; Permanent Way Institution (PWI); effects on personal life; customer focus after 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.