Henry Johnson (railway executive)

Sir Henry Cecil Johnson KBE
Born	(1906-09-11)11 September 1906 Lavendon, Buckinghamshire, England
Died	13 March 1988(1988-03-13) (aged 81) Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England
Nationality	British
Education	Bedford Modern School
Known for	Chairman of British Rail

Sir Henry Cecil Johnson KBE (11 September 1906 – 13 March 1988), was Chairman of British Rail.^[1] Johnson astutely began the sale and development of surplus railway land and established the British Rail Property Board in 1970.^[1] The finances of British Railways improved under Johnson's chairmanship and when he left in 1971, British Rail had a surplus of £9.7 million.^[1] Sir Peter Parker, a later Chairman, ‘admired his honesty and courage', describing him as ‘straight as a gun barrel’.^[1]

Henry Cecil Johnson was born in Lavendon, Buckinghamshire on 11 September 1906, the son of William Longland and Alice Mary Johnson of Lavendon, Buckinghamshire.^[1] He was educated at Bedford Modern School.^[2]

Johnson joined the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) as a traffic apprentice in 1923.^[1][3] After various posts in the Operating Department of LNER, Johnson was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Southern Area, LNER, in 1942.^[1] In 1955 he became Chief Operating Superintendent of the Eastern Region and later General Manager in 1958.^[1]

In 1962, Johnson became General Manager of the London Midland Region, and was also its Chairman between 1963 and 1967.^[1] He ‘took charge of the electrification of the Euston to Manchester and Liverpool line, the first main-line electrification, completed in 1966’.^[1][4] Johnson became Vice-Chairman of the British Railways Board in 1967 and was appointed its Chairman in 1968, a position he held until 1971.^[1]

The finances of British Railways improved under Johnson's chairmanship and when he left in 1971, British Rail had a surplus of £9.7 million.^[1] Although this was largely as a result of the Transport Act 1968, when grants were made to unprofitable passenger services providing a public service, Johnson astutely began the development of surplus railway land and established the British Rail Property Board in 1970.^[1] In the 1970s British Railways earned £20 million a year from land sales.^[1]

After British Railways, Johnson became Chairman of MEPC (1971–76) and held board positions at Lloyds Bank, the Trident Life Assurance Company and Imperial Life of Canada.^[1]

Johnson was appointed CBE in 1962, made Knight Bachelor in 1968 and KBE in 1972.^[1]

Always known as Bill Johnson, ‘he had a friendly and relaxed manner, but he was shrewd, a good listener, and expert at delegating’.^[1][3] Sir Peter Parker, a later Chairman, ‘admired his honesty and courage', describing him as ‘straight as a gun barrel.^[1] He was ‘extremely popular with the railway employees, who admired him as [then being] the only railwayman to have started at the bottom and worked his way up through the ranks to become Chairman of British Railways’.^[1]

Johnson was a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.^[1] The BBC's Your Paintings Series has a portrait of Johnson.^[5] In 1932 he married Evelyn Mary Morton; they had two daughters.^[1] He died on 13 March 1988 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.^[1]

• Sir Henry Johnson at Art UK