Papers of Adrian Shooter and Chiltern Railways
- Made:
- 1993-2011 in United Kingdom
- maker:
- Chiltern Railways and Adrian Shooter
Papers of Adrian Shooter and Chiltern Railways, including a complete set of board minutes, circa 1993 to 2011, handbills, adverts and press cuttings, at least three complete franchise bids for Chiltern and some unsuccessful bids for other franchises, board and policy papers, plans for projects that did not eventuate, correspondence with customers and others
Contact The Archives Manager, Search Engine, The National Railway Museum to request access
This is railway company archive spans the management and operation of a railway over the course of 18 years, covering both the British Rail and privatised periods. Compiled by railway executive Adrian Shooter, it provides both business and personal perspectives, including of the management buy-out led by Shooter and his role as chairman of Chiltern Railways.
Chiltern was one of the most successful of the smaller privatised railways, delivering both commuter and long-distance services. This archive documents the challenges and opportunities of running a railway company in the first two decades of the privatised era. It includes the original franchise bid; records of the company’s management and operations; its strategies and policies; its promotion and advertising; subsequent successful and failed franchise bids made by Chiltern; and correspondence that provides the customers’ viewpoints.
These papers were collected during Britain’s Railways All Change (BRAC) oral history project and support Adrian Shooter's oral history interview. 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.