Chris Kinchin-Smith was born in 1950. He completed a British Rail Engineering Scholarship in 1972. He then joined Voluntary Service Overseas and taught engineering to technicians in Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1973. He then worked in rolling stock depot and fleet management for British Rail’s Scottish, Eastern, Southern and Western Regions from 1973 to 1985. In 1985 he became the Area Mechanical & Electrical Engineer for British Rail: Western Region in London at Old Oak Common, serving in this role until 1989. He worked as Route Manager, Solent and Wessex/Planning and Marketing Manager for Network SouthEast South West between 1989 and 1993.