Oral history interview with Maggie Simpson, conducted and recorded by Michael Robson at the interviewee's office in Railfreight Group Offices, London on 23 May 2018. Duration: 1 hr. 02 min. 30 sec. Consultancy work with Arthur D. Little; Clapham accident; King’s Cross fire; Railtrack Safety Management Systems (SMS); Health and Safety at Work Act; safety advocacy; joining Office of Passenger Rail Franchising (OPRAF); Virgin West Coast (VWC) franchise contracts; London, Tilbury and Southend (LTS) franchise contracts; Class 220 Voyager; Class 390 Pendelino; comparison of OPRAF and train operating company (TOC) cultures; John O’Brien; LTS apologies to passengers; OPRAF structure; move to shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) freight team; determining government role in relation to freight; differences between OPRAF and SRA; SRA freight outputs; Freight Grant scheme; investment; economic role of rail freight; move to Railfreight Group (RFG); reflections on 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.