Prof. Andrew McNaughton interviewed by Michael Robson

Oral history interview with Prof. Andrew McNaughton, conducted and recorded by Michael Robson at 1 Eversholt Street, London on 3 January 2019. Duration: 1 hr. 17 min. 53 sec. Career overview; Organising for Quality (OfQ); track renewals for the introduction of Eurostar trains 1994; standard possessions and standard works planning; South Eastern London Terminal; Networker introductions; development of Infrastructure 2000 initiative; safety validation; privatisation and staff discussions; changes in track quality standards; re-organisation; Production Manager Railtrack Anglia Zone; staff consultation; signalling strike; changing relationships; increase in interfaces; privatisation of Railtrack; Production Director Railtrack Headquarters; West Coast Main Line (WCML) upgrade; High Speed 2 (HS2); reflections on privatisation; need for holistic solution.

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.