Richard Morris interviewed by Neil Butters

Video oral history interview with Richard Morris, conducted and recorded remotely by Neil Butters on Zoom video conferencing platform, on 8 March 2022. Duration: 51 minutes 18 seconds. Education; family history; holiday jobs; other job applications; training school Derby; [00:05:00] Tinsley marshalling yard Sheffield; review of board operations; punctuality at Liverpool St; move to Eurotunnel; [00:10:00] Privatisation, enthusiasm for privatisation; cannot sever train from track; no-one in charge; spoke to John Major; guards story; [00:15:00] negotiations on Channel Tunnel; issues with Bob Reid 1; freight through the tunnel; engineering in tunnel; simulator; impact of Brexit and Covid-19 on traffic; [00:20:00] approach to take over a Train Operating Company (TOC); financial challenges; privatisation antagonistic at higher levels; a lot of investment with privatisation; [00:25:00] electrification to Bath; first franchise to Chiltern was 20 years giving time to expand; later franchises were 7-8 years which were not so good; fire in Eurotunnel; [00:30:00] interview with Adrian Shooter; fire at Marylebone signal box; staff entrants in 1970’s; Bristol signal Box; [00:35:00] after organisation dividing it now looks like it is coming together; Romney Hythe and Dymchurch safety; after privatisation no-one in charge; accidents at Clapham and Potters Bar; lessons from other countries; Finland and Melbourne; [00:40:00] Delay Attribution Board, who was responsible for delays; Williams report; representative of TOC’s and Railtrack; Schedule 8; driven by money not by pride; [00:45:00] future of Delay Attribution Board, unique to UK; involvement in safety on Romney Hythe and Dymchurch; [00:50:00] TOPS (Total Operations Processing System) [00:51:18] [end of interview]

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.