BOOK PREVIEW
BEHIND THE SCENES AT CHILTERN
Phil Marsh speaks to former Chiltern Railways boss Adrian Shooter about his new book, covering his time in charge of what’s widely regarded as one of the best franchised operators.
THE name Adrian Shooter will be known to RM readers through his many senior roles in the railway industry, ranging from running Red Star Parcels, Chiltern Railways, Vintage Trains and Viva Rail to name but a few.
He has also written several books, and the latest one, Chiltern Railways – The Inside Story, is dedicated to his two decades at the helm of the privatised operator. It takes the reader from his appointment as director of the embryonic Chiltern Railways in 1993, to his retirement nearly 20 years later after leading the successful management buyout bid.
The book documents, in almost painful detail, the difficulties of railway Privatisation, which followed from the flawed Railways Act 1993. To this reviewer’s knowledge, it is the first time since Gerard Fiennes (in his 1967 book I Tried To Run A Railway) that a senior railway professional at the centre of the industry has written publicly on this subject. Mr Fiennes lost his job while Mr Shooter’s career carried on.
Chiltern Railways DMU No. 165024 at Chinnor on July 25, 1998. on a test run in connection with a plan to use the heritage line on weekdays to tap into the Oxford commuter market.
There are details about how BR’s chairman Bob Reid (1990-1995) lobbied the Government after the political route to Privatisation was set after the 1992 election. This resulted in civil servants being told not to speak to BR officials, but this diktat resulted in advice being given to the Government by aviation industry lawyers instead, who were not familiar with the rail industry or how it operated.