Michael Woods interviewed by Brian Clementson

Oral history interview with Michael Woods, conducted and recorded by Brian Clementson at the interviewee's home in London on 24 June 2019. Duration: 1 hr. 18 min. 11 sec. Early career; industrial relations; Personal Assistant to Bob Reid 1; Organising for Quality (OfQ); Eurostar 1989-1996; Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR); AEA Technology 2001-2004; earlier privatisations; David Rayner appointed Lead Director for Organising for Quality (OfQ); European Passenger Services; move from subsidiary to privatisation; comparison with other recent infrastructure projects; representing Eurostar on project teams; Eurostar government owned company (GOCO) April 1994; Railtrack agreement with Eurotunnel; award to London & Continental Railways; Clapham accident involvement; safety investments panel formed; Safe Cess initiative; development of Safety Panels; Safety Management Intelligence System (SMIS) and Safety Risk Model (SRM); Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Safety) Regulations (ROGS); Hatfield accident; Waterloo roof alterations; links between Railtrack and metro systems; analysis of original privatisation objectives

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.