Sir Keith Bright (30 August 1931 – 20 January 2021) was Chairman of

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...

in the 1980s. He resigned following the Fennell Report into the

King's Cross fire The King's Cross fire was a 1987 fire in a London Underground station with 31 fatalities, after a fire under a wooden escalator suddenly spread into the underground ticket hall in a flashover. The fire began at approximately 19:30 on 18 Novembe ...

in 1988, that criticised the management of

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

and London Transport.

History

Graduating from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, Bright worked for a wide variety of companies including

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type species of genus ''For ...

Sime Darby Sime Darby Berhad () is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial, motors and logistics sectors as well as the healthcare, and insurance segments. Background The modern Sime Darby Berhad corpor ...

and Associated Biscuits.''''

London Transport

Bright was headhunted by the Greater London Council (GLC) to lead London Transport, despite having no experience in the transportation industry. He was appointed Chairman of the London Transport Executive (LTE) in 1982. Underground ridership was declining, and efforts to reduce costs by cutting service, increasing ticket prices or cutting staff were blocked by Unions and the GLC - led by

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

. Following political rows between the

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Mi ...

and the GLC, the

London Regional Transport Act 1984 The London Regional Transport Act 1984 (1984 c. 32) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which created the statutory corporation named London Regional Transport. It received royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monar ...

removed the transport powers of the GLC, with LTE becoming London Regional Transport. Bright remained as chairman, reporting directly to the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

. Improvements such as the

Travelcard The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Elizabeth line, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams,_ "type":_...,_London_Buses_and_National_Rail.html" ;"title="London_Buses.html" ...

, automatic ticket machines and more night buses helped to improve service and increase revenue. Expenditure was also cut, with job losses due to the

privatisation of London bus services The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies. For half a century, operation of London bus services for public transport was under the direct co ...

. The requirement of taxpayer support was halved to £95m a year, 2 years ahead of schedule. By 1987, the Underground was 40% busier than its 1982 low - with future plans for transport improvements such as the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Londo ...

and the

Jubilee Line Extension The Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) is the extension of the London Underground Jubilee line from to through south and east London. An eastward extension of the line was first proposed in the 1970s. As part of the development of London Docklands, ...

well underway. In 1987, Bright was knighted for services to London Transport.

Kings Cross fire

In 1987, a major fire at King's Cross Underground station killed 31 people. Following the fire, Bright offered to resign - however Transport Secretary

Paul Channon Henry Paul Guinness Channon, Baron Kelvedon, (9 October 1935 – 27 January 2007) was Conservative MP for Southend West for 38 years, from 1959 until 1997. He served in various ministerial offices, and was a Cabinet minister for 3½ years, as ...

requested Bright to stay as chairman throughout the subsequent

public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

. During the inquiry, Bright was criticised for suggesting that an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

ist was to blame for the fire. In 1988, the Fennell Report into the fire was published, which revealed serious issues with the safety of the Underground and its management culture. Both Bright and

Tony Ridley Tony Melville Ridley CBE (born 1933) is a British civil engineer and professor. He worked as a design and site engineer in the US and Britain before becoming chief research officer of the highways and transport department of the Greater London ...

(Chairman of London Underground) resigned. He was replaced on an caretaker basis by Sir Neil Shields (1988–89), and then by

Sir Wilfrid Newton Sir Charles Wilfrid Newton, CBE (11 December 1928 – 28 November 2012) was managing director of Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) in the 1980s and London Regional Transport in the 1990s. History Charles Wilfrid Newton was bo ...

Subsequent career

After his resignation from London Transport, Bright became chairman of

Electrocomponents RS Group plc (formerly Electrocomponents plc) is a distributor of industrial and electronics products based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was fou ...

. Further chairperson and directorship positions followed including

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust operates Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital (since 1 September 2015). The Foundation Trust was created on 1 October 2006. The Trust's chief executive is L ...

British Airports Authority Heathrow Airport Holdings is the United Kingdom-based operator of Heathrow Airport. The company also operated Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport, Edinburgh Airport and several other UK airports, but was forced by the Competition Commission to se ...

and

Brent Walker Brent Walker was a British company involved in property, gambling, distilled beverages and pubs. It was founded by George Walker, the brother of the boxer Billy Walker. In 1991, following the accumulation of debts which had been used to finance ...

.'''' After several years with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, Bright died in January 2021 from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, aged 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, Keith 1931 births 2021 deaths Alumni of the University of London People associated with transport in London 20th-century English businesspeople

History

London Transport

Kings Cross fire

Subsequent career

See also

References