Richard Brown (transport executive)

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Richard Howard Brown CBE FCILT FRSA DL (born 23 February 1953[1]) is a British transport executive. Until 30 June 2013 he was the chairman of Eurostar International Limited, having previously been Eurostar UK Ltd's chief executive between August 2002 and April 2010.[2][3][4]

Richard Brown
CBE FCILT FRSA DL
Born
Richard Howard Brown

(1953-02-23) 23 February 1953 (age 71)
OccupationTransport executive
Years active1970s–
SpouseGweno L. Brown
Children2 daughters, 1 son

Brown was chair of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) in both 2000 and 2001.[5] He previously worked in British Rail's freight business, migrating to BR's InterCity Planning division.[6] He was heavily involved with BR's "Organising For Quality" project which divided British Rail into separate businesses.[6] With that Brown headed up the combined InterCity Cross Country and Midland Mainline.[6] Brown moved to Derby and continued as the head of Midland Mainline before, during and after the privatisation of British Rail.[6][7] The franchise win by National Express led to Brown becoming head of its new rail unit, and a commercial director of NEG itself.[6]

Brown was president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport[8] for one year, having taken over at the end of May 2008.[9] He was appointed to the board of High Speed Two Ltd in 2012,[10] where he has served as the chair of the remuneration committee since July 2012.[11]

During late 2012, Brown was commissioned to undertake an independent review of the system of rail franchising in Great Britain for the United Kingdom's Department for Transport, which was published in January 2013.[12] Brown was later appointed as a non-executive member to the board of the Department for Transport for a three-year period beginning on 15 July 2013.[13] In June 2015, Brown was made a special director of Network Rail, reporting directly to Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin.[14][15]

Personal life

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Richard Brown met his wife Gweno on a skiing trip and they have three grown-up children:[16] two daughters and one son.[17] He lives in Littleover,[18] Derby, and commutes weekly to a flat in London.[17]

Brown studied philosophy[6] and engineering at the University of Cambridge,[16] received an MPhil in town and transport planning from University College London,[16] and later studied at Harvard University.[19] He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Derby[5] in 2008.[20] In the Queen's Birthday Honours 2007, Brown was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to transport.[21][22][23]

Rail franchising

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During late 2012, Brown was commissioned to undertake an independent review of the system of rail franchising for the Department for Transport. This was published in January 2013 as "The Brown Review of the Rail Franchising Programme".[12] The report noted that "in a well-functioning, good franchise system you sometimes have failure", but that a number of procedural faults made failure more likely. Among other recommendations, the report stated that franchisees should (only) be responsible for the risks they can manage, and that "macroeconomic, or exogenous, revenue risk" should not be passed on to franchisees.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Richard Brown, Esq, CBE. People of Today (Report). Debrett's. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Rail boss steps down to devote time to Government role". Derby Telegraph. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  3. ^ Walsh, Mary; Calder, Leigh (16 May 2013). "Eurostar International appoints Clare Hollingsworth as Chairman". Eurostar website (Press release). Eurostar International. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Richard Brown to step down from Eurostar". Rail News. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Richard Brown – Honorary Doctor of University (HonDUniv)". Honoraries. University of Derby. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Milne, Andy (9 October 2012). "High noon at Marsham Street". Railstaff. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  7. ^ Silvester, Katie (21 January 2008). "The Rail Professional Interview: Richard Brown: Chief Executive of Eurostar" (PDF). Interview. Rail Professional (131): 12–15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Richard Brown CBE FCILT Chief Executive Eurostar" (biography). Speakers. Green Business Events. 2 November 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Brown makes climate change top of his agenda". Rail News. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  10. ^ Fitzpatrick, Tom (28 June 2012). "Eurostar chairman among four appointments to HS2 board". Construction News. EMAP. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  11. ^ Minutes (Minutes). HS2 Ltd Board Meeting 24 July 2012 (Report). HS2 Board Room, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London, SW1E 5DU: High Speed Two. p. 4. 11.2 It was agreed … to appoint Richard Brown as Chair of the Remuneration Committee.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. ^ a b Brown, Richard (10 January 2013). The Brown Review of the Rail Franchising Programme (PDF). The Stationery Office. ISBN 9780101852623. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  13. ^ Department for Transport (18 July 2013). "Richard Brown appointed to the Department for Transport Board" (Press release). Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  14. ^ Topham, Gwyn; Pidd, Helen (26 June 2015). "Government freezes rail upgrades and replaces Network Rail boss". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2015. McLoughlin said [he was] appointing a special director to report directly to him. Richard Brown, a former Eurostar chairman
  15. ^ Plimmer, Gill (15 July 2015). "Regulator proposes splitting Network Rail into eight businesses". Financial Times. Retrieved 11 August 2015. Richard Brown, a former head of Eurostar, has been appointed special director of Network Rail to monitor progress.
  16. ^ a b c Carlisle, Alex (12 March 2010). "Richard Brown Eurostar's Derbyshire Resident Chief Executive". Derbyshire Life. Archant Life. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  17. ^ a b Cave, Andrew (12 April 2009). "Eurostar feeding on hunger for travel". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  18. ^ "Eurostar's new chairman will take reins next year". Derbyshire Evening Telegraph. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  19. ^ "Richard Brown". Advisory Board. Entrepreneurs Partners. Archived from the original (biography) on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  20. ^ Redfern, Simon; Kirby, Sean; Butt, Simon; Wake, Anne (February 2008). Gallimore, Peter (ed.). "Awards '08: Time To Celebrate!" (PDF). Connected (20). University of Derby: 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2010.
  21. ^ "No. 58358". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2007. p. 7.
  22. ^ Longbottom, Sarah (29 February 2008). "Interview: Richard Brown, Eurostar". Travel Weekly. Travel Weekly Group. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  23. ^ "Eurostar's Richard Brown appointed Chair of Catalyst Housing". Uncategorized. Catalyst Housing. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  24. ^ House of Commons Transport Committee, Intercity East Coast Franchise: Fifth Report of Session 2017–19, paragraphs 20 and 61, published 12 September 2018, accessed 28 October 2023
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