Mike Etwell interviewed by Michael Robson

Oral history interview with Mike Etwell, conducted and recorded by Michael Robson in Berkshire on 12 February 2020. Duration: 2 hr. 5 min. 23 sec. Career overview; Class 59 development; Class 60 development; Class 92 development; European Passenger Services (EPS); meetings with Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen/Société nationale des chemins de fer belges (NMBS/SNCB); further development of Class 59; technical requirements; Class 60; Class 37; noise issues; car-carrying wagon development for Channel Tunnel; Euro Night Sleepers; Class 92 at Velim Test track; CLAs 92 technical requirements; Channel Tunnel usage agreement; loading gauge; Class 373/TransManche Super Train (TMST); vision and requirements for EPS services; North Pole International depot; EPS staff development; North Pole depot; EPS Language Training Centre; financing of European Night Stock 1992; setting-up of European Night Services; operation requirements; EPS change to Eurostar; North Pole opening; Waterloo International; Plant Support Doncaster; Class 37; test running; trainsets leased to Great North Eastern Railway (GNER); Eurostar developing as rolling stock company (ROSCO); Class 92 for freight use; Eurostat train evacuation tests; North Pole International Depot facilities; Eurostar train commissioning; press visit; staff development; Manchester Depot; London and Continental Railways (LCR) set-up 1994; Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL); EPS move to LCR; senior management re-organisation; production management; passenger growth; contracts; Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMECHE)

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.