Richard Howard Brown (born 23 February 1953) 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. Brown was chair of the

Association of Train Operating Companies The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), previously the Association of Train Operating Companies, is the British rail industry membership body that brings together passenger and freight rail companies, Network Rail and High Speed 2. History From 24 Oc ...

(ATOC) in both 2000 and 2001. He previously worked in

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

's freight business, migrating to BR's InterCity Planning division. He was heavily involved with BR's "Organising For Quality" project which divided British Rail into separate businesses. With that Brown headed up the combined InterCity Cross Country and Midland Mainline. Brown moved to Derby and continued as the head of Midland Mainline before, during and after the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

. The franchise win by National Express led to Brown becoming head of its new rail unit, and a commercial director of NEG itself. Brown was president of the

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) is a professional body representing the transport and logistics industries worldwide. It is a membership-based organisation with over 30,000 members in over 30 countries. This i ...

for one year, having taken over at the end of May 2008. He was appointed to the board of High Speed Two Ltd in 2012, where he has served as the chair of the remuneration committee since July 2012. 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 The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

. This was published in January 2013 as "The Brown Review of the Rail Franchising Programme". 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. In June 2015, Brown was made a special director of

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

, reporting directly to

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 ...

Patrick McLoughlin Patrick Allen McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin, (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constituen ...

Personal life

Richard Brown met his wife Gweno on a skiing trip and they have three grown-up children: two daughters and one son. He lives in Littleover, Derby, and commutes weekly to a flat in London. Brown studied philosophy and engineering at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, received an MPhil in town and transport planning from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, and later studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, Ear ...

in 2008. In the Queen's Birthday Honours 2007, Brown was appointed as a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

''for services to transport''.

Publications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Richard 1953 births Living people Eurostar British people in rail transport People from Littleover Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of University College London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire