Adrian
Shooter,
an
engineer
who
led
the
first
Chiltern
Railways
franchise
and
founded
Vivarail,
has
died.
Mr
Shooter,
who
was
74
and
unveiled
a
statue
of
himself
at
London
Marylebone
station
earlier
this
year,
had
joined
British
Rail
in
1970
as
a
management
trainee.
He
became
maintenance
engineer
at
Bletchley
then
depot
manager
at
Heaton,
followed
by
the
post
of
area
maintenance
engineer
at
Carlisle.
He
worked
on
projects
at
Bournemouth
and
Selhurst
depot,
before
becoming
area
manager,
St
Pancras,
for
the
London
Midland
Region.
As
privatisation
approached
he
led
the
management
of
the
Chiltern
Railways
Train
Operating
Unit
for
BR
and
won
the
first
franchise,
which
began
in
July
1996,
later
becoming
chairman
of
DB
Regio
UK
after
the
second
Chiltern
franchise
was
acquired
by
Deutsche
Bahn
in
2008.
This
franchise
had
begun
in
2002
and
ran
until
December
2021.
Exceptionally,
the
contract
included
major
infrastructure
upgrades,
such
as
redoubling
parts
of
the
Chiltern
Main
Line,
a
new
depot
at
Wembley
and
building
the
chord
at
Bicester
which
allowed
trains
to
run
for
the
first
time
between
London
Marylebone
and
Oxford.
In
2013
he
set
up
Vivarail
Ltd,
which
bought
redundant
District
Line
cars
from
Transport
for
London
and
refurbished
them
to
become
‘D-Trains’
with
new
forms
of
traction,
including
battery
power.
The
units
have
entered
service
with
several
operators,
including
South
Western
Railway’s
Island
Line,
but
regrettably
Vivarail
has
now
called
in
administrators
after
it
failed
to
identify
new
investors.
Even
so,
Adrian
had
ably
demonstrated
the
possibilities
of
reusing
older
vehicles
to
provide
economical
rolling
stock
upgrades.
He
was
also
the
chairman
of
SLC
Rail,
whose
managing
director
Ian
Walters
said:
‘I
am
deeply
saddened
by
the
passing
of
this
great
man.
I
met
Adrian
on
my
first
day
working
in
the
rail
industry
in
November
1991,
and
I
feel
lucky
and
honoured
to
have
had
his
mentorship
and
friendship
since
then.
‘We
have
benefited
from
Adrian’s
leadership,
wisdom
and
experience,
and
focus
on
what
worked
for
passengers.
As
we’ve
grown
as
a
business,
it
has
been
a
privilege
to
have
him
as
part
of
the
SLC
team
for
so
many
years.
‘It
is
no
exaggeration
that
his
involvement
and
advocacy
has
been
fundamental
to
our
success.’
Adrian
himself
paid
generous
tributes
to
colleagues,
saying:
‘All
I
ever
did
was
create
the
vision,
hire
the
very
best
people
and
then
help
them
to
do
their
best.
They,
not
me,
were
the
people
who
delighted
our
passengers.
They
had
to
work
in
all
weathers
and
run
a
safe
railway
wherever
the
problems.
Some
of
them
relieved
me
of
the
tedium
of
negotiating
and
implementing
the
many
over-complicated
legal
agreements
we
have
been
saddled
with.
‘It
has
been
a
very
real
pleasure
to
see
so
many
people
grow
in
confidence
and
help
create
a
bigger
and
much
better
railway
supported
by
private
sector
investment.’
The
present
managing
director
of
Chiltern
Railways
Richard
Allan
said:
‘We
are
deeply
sorry
to
hear
about
the
death
of
Adrian.
We
and
our
customers
owe
him
an
enormous
debt
of
gratitude
for
the
vision,
drive
and
passion
that
he
and
his
team
brought
to
bear
in
creating
and
developing
Chiltern
from
1996
onwards.
‘Adrian
was
a
leader,
a
colleague
and
a
friend
to
many
current
and
former
colleagues
at
Chiltern
and
in
the
wider
railway
industry.
It
was
only
a
few
months
ago
that
a
group
of
industry
colleagues
were
delighted
to
welcome
Adrian
to
Marylebone
to
commemorate
his
immense
contribution
to
Chiltern
and
the
rail
industry
over
his
50
year
career.
Adrian
and
his
family
unveiled
a
statue
of
him
on
Platform
1,
and
he
was
so
very
proud
to
be
asked
to
unveil
a
train
named
in
his
honour.’
Adrian
Shooter
was
a
fellow
of
the
Royal
Academy
of
Engineering,
the
Institution
of
Mechanical
Engineers
and
of
the
Chartered
Institute
of
Transport
and
was
awarded
CBE
in
2010.
He
had
been
suffering
from
motor
neurone
disease,
and
died
in
Switzerland.
Adrian
Shooter
CBE
FREng
FIMechE
22
November
1948–13
December
2022
