Oral history interview with James Collins, conducted and recorded by Chris Kinchin-Smith at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London on 14 January 2019. Duration: 1 hr. 24 min. 55 sec. Personal background; early career; Traffic Management Training Scheme 1977; Area Manager Plymouth 1984; sectorisation; Personal Assistant to Bob Reid 1 1987; involvement with Clapham accident; vertical integration; Director Thameslink train operating unit (TOU); Network SouthEast (NSE); general election 1992; privatisation; Thameslink 2000; John Nelson; Informed Traveller project; National Rail Enquiries Service (NRES); management buyout (MBO) bid; British Telecom (BT); joined Railtrack; Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL); Thameslink 2000; East London Line (ELL) upgrade; Strategic Rail Authority (SRA); proposal to increase franchise terms; Railtrack’s relationship with customers; focus on share price; investment; Thameslink performance since privatisation; GoVia; First Group; personal impact of privatisation; reflections

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.