Peter Sturt Interviewed by Christopher Mew

Interview with Peter Sturt Conducted by Christopher Mew on the 5th of August 2021. Duration 54 min. 49 sec. early career; Invitation to be privatisation manager network South East; Reporting procedure to British railway Board, Legal Advisers, Department of Transport; Office of Passenger Rail and Office of Rail Regulation; Focus of project; Relationship with Network Rail; relationship with proposed Train operating Companies (TOCs); development of agreements; Formation of Rolling Stock Companies; Target of processes; legal documentation; facility access agreements; Document completion processes; Key approvals for British Railway Board; TOC bids; requirements for privatisation; safety case work; Track access; Station leases; additional agreements for computer services; Schedule 8 performance regime; 1993 privatisation act implementation; outcome of process and personal views; outstanding items- Compensation for Thameslink 2000 project works; cab secure radio systems; waivers regarding development items; specification issues; property agreements.

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.