Alastair Morton
Encyclopedia
Sir Alastair Morton (11 January 1938 — 1 September 2004) was Chief Executive of Eurotunnel
and Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority
and an industrialist of considerable achievements and renown.
Morton was born in Johannesburg
, South Africa
, and he read law
at Worcester College, Oxford.
He was managing director of the British National Oil Corporation 1976-80; chief executive of Guinness Peat Group 1982-87 and chairman in 1987; co-chairman of Eurotunnel
1987-96 and group chief executive 1990-94; chairman of the British Treasury
's private finance panel 1993-95 and chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority
1999-2001.
He was also chairman of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain 1994-2004.
Morton was knight
ed in 1992. He died on 1 September 2004 aged 66. His memorial service at Southwark Cathedral was attended by hundreds of people who knew and respected him.
Treasury's private finance panel, which sought private capital for transport projects.
, the railway tunnel opened in 1994 which runs underneath the English Channel
and links France and Great Britain. He was appointed co-chairman in 1987.
The tunnel was a great engineering achievement, but it was also a testament to Morton's iron determination that it should not founder under a welter of claims and counter-claims of engineering firms or pressures from financial institutions and investors. The project cost more than twice its projected £4.8 billion price tag.
The Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher
had insisted that the project had to pay its own way, and the UK legislation which authorised and facilitated the project contained an outright ban on any British public subsidy for the works.
MP appointed Morton to the chairmanship of the British Railways Board
and, once created from February 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority
, from which he resigned in October 2001 in the aftermath of the collapse of Railtrack
. Morton famously coined the phrase that the aftermath of the Hatfield rail crash
constituted a 'collective nervous breakdown' on the part of the British railway industry.
The SRA was neither Morton's greatest achievement nor his happiest professional experience. The Authority had been created for ambiguous political reasons, with considerable political and public expectations vested in it but without nearly the power to meet them. Morton became increasingly infuriated by the impotence of the organisation he had been appointed to lead, and relations with the Department for Transport
, the Treasury
and the Rail Regulator
- which collectively did have the powers which Morton wanted - deteriorated quite quickly. Towards the end of his time at the SRA, Morton was making public statements which were more and more critical of his political masters and what he saw as their intransigence in allowing him both the power and the freedom he believed he should have had. In relation to powers to hold Railtrack
- the national railway infrastructure company - to account, Morton's jurisdictional skirmishes with the Rail Regulator
became public after the Ladbroke Grove rail crash
and Morton would never accept that the Rail Regulator and not the SRA had the right to determine what Railtrack's financial framework and settlement should be. He summed up his objections in what became his second most memorable railway phrase - 'He who pays the piper should call the tune' - by which he meant that the SRA should set the overall level of public spending on the railways, and what was to be delivered with the cash, and the Rail Regulator should simply check that the money was efficiently used. That never happened during his tenure at the SRA, although it became reality in 2005 with the passage of the Railways Act 2005
which curtailed the power of the Office of Rail Regulation
(which replaced the Rail Regulator in July 2004) in financial matters. So Morton got his way, eventually.
Morton's resignation in October 2001 was no surprise to many in the railway industry as he was not a man to stick around when he was getting the blame for things which he could not control. If the politicians wanted the railway to operate as dysfunctionally as Morton saw it, so be it; he had tried. He gave his support to his younger successor
Richard Bowker
, who took over from 1 December 2001.
Eurotunnel
Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France. The Company operates the car shuttle services and earns revenue on other trains passing through the tunnel...
and Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority
Strategic Rail Authority
In existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
and an industrialist of considerable achievements and renown.
Morton was born in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and he read law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at Worcester College, Oxford.
He was managing director of the British National Oil Corporation 1976-80; chief executive of Guinness Peat Group 1982-87 and chairman in 1987; co-chairman of Eurotunnel
Eurotunnel
Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France. The Company operates the car shuttle services and earns revenue on other trains passing through the tunnel...
1987-96 and group chief executive 1990-94; chairman of the British Treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
's private finance panel 1993-95 and chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority
Strategic Rail Authority
In existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
1999-2001.
He was also chairman of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain 1994-2004.
Morton was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in 1992. He died on 1 September 2004 aged 66. His memorial service at Southwark Cathedral was attended by hundreds of people who knew and respected him.
BNOC
As managing director of the British National Oil Corporation (1976-80), he fought furiously to resist its privatisation.Treasury
In 1993 he chaired the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Treasury's private finance panel, which sought private capital for transport projects.
Eurotunnel
Morton will be best remembered for his time at EurotunnelEurotunnel
Groupe Eurotunnel S.A. manages and operates the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France. The Company operates the car shuttle services and earns revenue on other trains passing through the tunnel...
, the railway tunnel opened in 1994 which runs underneath the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and links France and Great Britain. He was appointed co-chairman in 1987.
The tunnel was a great engineering achievement, but it was also a testament to Morton's iron determination that it should not founder under a welter of claims and counter-claims of engineering firms or pressures from financial institutions and investors. The project cost more than twice its projected £4.8 billion price tag.
The Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
had insisted that the project had to pay its own way, and the UK legislation which authorised and facilitated the project contained an outright ban on any British public subsidy for the works.
Strategic Rail Authority
In 1999, the British deputy prime minister John PrescottJohn Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
MP appointed Morton to the chairmanship of the British Railways Board
British Railways Board
The British Railways Board was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that existed from 1962 to 2001. From its foundation until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand names British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail...
and, once created from February 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority
Strategic Rail Authority
In existence from 2001 to 2006, the Strategic Rail Authority was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom set up under the Transport Act 2000 to provide strategic direction for the railway industry....
, from which he resigned in October 2001 in the aftermath of the collapse of Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
. Morton famously coined the phrase that the aftermath of the Hatfield rail crash
Hatfield rail crash
The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. Although the accident killed fewer than other accidents, Hatfield exposed the major stewardship shortcomings of the privatised national railway infrastructure company Railtrack and the failings of...
constituted a 'collective nervous breakdown' on the part of the British railway industry.
The SRA was neither Morton's greatest achievement nor his happiest professional experience. The Authority had been created for ambiguous political reasons, with considerable political and public expectations vested in it but without nearly the power to meet them. Morton became increasingly infuriated by the impotence of the organisation he had been appointed to lead, and relations with the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
, the Treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
and the Rail Regulator
Rail Regulator
The Rail Regulator was a statutory office, created with effect from 1 December 1993 by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993, for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry....
- which collectively did have the powers which Morton wanted - deteriorated quite quickly. Towards the end of his time at the SRA, Morton was making public statements which were more and more critical of his political masters and what he saw as their intransigence in allowing him both the power and the freedom he believed he should have had. In relation to powers to hold Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
- the national railway infrastructure company - to account, Morton's jurisdictional skirmishes with the Rail Regulator
Rail Regulator
The Rail Regulator was a statutory office, created with effect from 1 December 1993 by section 1 of the Railways Act 1993, for the independent economic regulation of the British railway industry....
became public after the Ladbroke Grove rail crash
Ladbroke Grove rail crash
The Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove, London, England. Thirty-one people were killed and more than 520 injured...
and Morton would never accept that the Rail Regulator and not the SRA had the right to determine what Railtrack's financial framework and settlement should be. He summed up his objections in what became his second most memorable railway phrase - 'He who pays the piper should call the tune' - by which he meant that the SRA should set the overall level of public spending on the railways, and what was to be delivered with the cash, and the Rail Regulator should simply check that the money was efficiently used. That never happened during his tenure at the SRA, although it became reality in 2005 with the passage of the Railways Act 2005
Railways Act 2005
The Railways Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the regulatory structure for railways in the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
which curtailed the power of the Office of Rail Regulation
Office of Rail Regulation
The Office of Rail Regulation is a statutory board which is the combined economic and safety regulatory authority for Great Britain's railway network. It was established on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, replacing the Rail Regulator...
(which replaced the Rail Regulator in July 2004) in financial matters. So Morton got his way, eventually.
Morton's resignation in October 2001 was no surprise to many in the railway industry as he was not a man to stick around when he was getting the blame for things which he could not control. If the politicians wanted the railway to operate as dysfunctionally as Morton saw it, so be it; he had tried. He gave his support to his younger successor
Richard Bowker
Richard Bowker (British businessman)
Richard Bowker CBE is former Chief executive officer of National Express Group. He attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn, read Economics at Leicester University, and played as a professional session pianist for a year, after which he joined the London Underground as a Graduate...
, who took over from 1 December 2001.
External links
- Obituary The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
- Obituary The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Obituary The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...