Wilfrid Newton

Sir Charles Wilfrid Newton, CBE HonFREng (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.[1][2][3]

Sir Charles Wilfrid Newton
Born(1928-12-11)11 December 1928
South Africa
Died28 November 2012(2012-11-28) (aged 83)
OccupationManaging Director of Mass Transit Railway Corporation: 1983–1989 Chairman of London Regional Transport: 1989–1994

History

Charles Wilfrid Newton was born on 11 December 1928 in South Africa, and was educated at schools in Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand. Starting out as an accountant in industry, he became group managing director, and subsequently the chief executive of Turner & Newall.[1][2]

Hong Kong and MTR

In March 1983, he left Turner & Newall to join the Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) as chairman and chief executive.[4] The MTR was founded in 1975 as a government owned statutory corporation to build and operate a mass transit system for the then British colony. The MTR had just opened its first railway line connecting Hong Kong Island to Kowloon in 1979.

Newton led the building of a new line on Hong Kong island itself – the Island line, which connected the Central district to Chai Wan. In May 1985, Newton presided over the opening ceremony of the line at Tai Koo, with a plaque unveiled by Governor of Hong Kong Sir Edward Youde.[5] Following this, a second harbour tunnel to carry increased numbers of passenger traffic opened in 1989.[6]

Thanks to high ridership and property development including shopping malls and development built over railway depots (such as Telford Gardens) – the MTR was being run without government subsidy.[7][8] Newton also chaired the Hong Kong Futures Exchange from 1986 to 1989,[2] as well as becoming a non-executive director of HongkongBank.[9]

London and London Regional Transport

In 1989, Newton was invited to become chairman and chief executive of London Regional Transport, and chairman of London Underground.[2][4]

Newton's major project was the implementation of the Jubilee Line Extension – the first major extension to the Underground in 20 years. Experts from Hong Kong including MTR architect Roland Paoletti were recruited to progress the multibillion-pound project – which eventually opened in 1999.[10][11]

Following the King's Cross fire in 1987, the state of neglect on the Tube and complacency of London Underground was criticised, with the Northern line nicknamed "the Misery line".[12][13] Newton branded the Tube network "an appalling shambles" at a seminar on the future of London in 1991, noting that "The infrastructure has been neglected for 30 years".[1] Newton subsequently planned a transformation of London Underground into a 'decently modern metro' over a period of 10 years, with upgrades to existing lines and strong service standards.[14]

However the recession in the early 1990s cut ticket revenue, which was exacerbated by stop-go investment and Treasury budget cuts by around 30 per cent between 1993 and 1996 – making it difficult to progress the upgrade programme. Following the Autumn statement in 1992, Newton was said to have had "a rare public outburst of anger" following a broken promise by the Government to increase investment to more than £700m a year.[15] By March 1993, Newton authorised managers to blame deteriorating services and cancellations on broken Government pledges.[16] Newton himself appeared on television after the November 1993 Budget and criticised the funding of London Regional Transport.[17]

In 1994, Newton was due to retire.[18] However, his chosen replacement - the deputy chairman of London Transport, Dr. Alan Watkins - was vetoed by the Treasury in March 1994, due to Dr. Watkins involvement in campaigning for more investment in London Underground.[19] Newton was therefore unable to step down as Chairman of London Transport until a more suitable candidate was agreed.[18] Newton eventually stepped down in September 1994, replaced by Peter Ford.[18]

Honours

Owing to his work in Hong Kong, he was appointed CBE in 1988, before being knighted in 1993.[20][3] In 1993 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[21]

Death

He died on 28 November 2012, aged 83.[1][2]

See also

References
  1. "Obituaries – Sir Wilfrid Newton". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 December 2012. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  2. "Obituary – Sir Wilfrid Newton". The Times. 18 December 2012. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  3. "Newton, Sir (Charles) Wilfrid, (11 Dec. 1928–28 Nov. 2012), Chairman and Chief Executive, London Regional Transport, 1989–94; Chairman, London Underground Ltd, 1989–94", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u29425, retrieved 7 June 2020
  4. Newton, Wilfrid (September 2006). "Written deputation to Hong Kong Legislative Council – Merger of KCR and MTR" (PDF). Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
  5. Forsyth, Neil (1990). Underground Pride. Mass Transit Railway Corporation. Retrieved 21 November 2013 – via YouTube.
  6. He, Peiran (28 September 2018). Making Hong Kong : a history of its urban development. Cheltenham, UK. ISBN 978-1-78811-795-1. OCLC 1043847392.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. "The 'Rail plus Property' model: Hong Kong's successful self-financing formula | McKinsey". mckinsey.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  8. Liu, Louis (28 January 1986). "MTR is paying off debt, says Newton" (PDF). South China Morning Post. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  9. Kynaston, David (2015). The Lion Wakes : a Modern History of HSBC. Roberts, Richard. London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84765-897-5. OCLC 899941777.
  10. Mitchell, Bob, C. Eng. (2003). Jubilee Line extension : from concept to completion. London: Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-3028-2. OCLC 51945284.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Lights at the end of the tunnel". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 September 1998. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  12. Pearce, Mike (22 June 1989). "Northern Line driverless trains". Thames Television, Thames News. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  13. "Call for action on Northern Line". BBC News. 12 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  14. Jones, Tim (24 February 1993). "Cuts to deepen passengers' misery". The Times. p. 4.
  15. Dynes, Michael (14 November 1992). "Cutbacks reverse plans for the Tube". The Times. p. 7.
  16. "The day the Tube died". The Independent. 28 November 1993. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  17. "Budget Aftermath: Tube projects face further delay". The Independent. 2 December 1993. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  18. "TIME TO SET SIR WILFRID FREE » 14 May 1994 » The Spectator Archive". The Spectator Archive. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  19. "Transport chief's promotion blocked". The Independent. 11 March 1994. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  20. "Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). The London Gazette. 31 December 1992.
  21. "List of Fellows 2001/2002". RAEng: 12.
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