Interview with Douglas Downie conducted by Christopher Mew on the 5th of August 2021 in Twickenham. Duration 32 min. 30 sec. This interview was conducted in a group with Allan Galley and Paul Smart. Please see corresponding interviews. Early career; British Rail involvement in separation of businesses under organisation for Quality; freightliner early candidate for privatisation; Successful bid; assessment of revenue and identifying costs; Basford hall yard, centre for operations; buying new locomotives; West Coast modernisation; haulage of construction materials; British Rail lacked flexibility; partnership in financing with Rolling Stock Companies (ROSCO) backing helpful; new opportunities in coal business; organisation became part of distribution chain with large container and shipping companies; ROSCOs understanding on cooperation; how privatisation benefitted Freightliner; staff relationships; Solutions to problems with Train Operating Companies.

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.