I won't buckle, says rail boss

The man who stood up to the might of Britain's railway unions today vowed: I will never give in.

South West Trains head Brian Souter said he would "fight to the finish" to stop rail strike misery for commuters.

Mr Souter - known as one of Britain's toughest bosses - told the Evening Standard: "We neither sought nor want this dispute. We are not ideologically nor politically motivated. What we have got is an industrial relations problem which is hurting our customers. That is bad for business and bad for the future of the railways.

"I want to put £200million into South West Trains over the next 20 years for more trains, longer platforms and better services. I believe passionately in trains. But I won't do any of this if industrial relations becomes a long-term problem."

With his trademark Kickers shoes, and Tesco's carrier bag, Mr Souter, 47, looks more like a shop steward than a captain of industry. But observers say if ever there is a man who can break the will of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, he is the one.

He bought the SWT franchise after building up his multi-million-pound Stagecoach bus empire, during which he took on - and defeated - unions in numerous strikes.

On the railways, he says the problems of poor industrial relations have to be nipped in the bud once and for all. He has vowed that he will not put on a token show of resistance followed by a capitulation to the strikers. "If we give in now it will just happen again year after year - that's why it has to be ended now," he said. The RMT is due to hold two consecutive 24-hour strikes next week on noon Monday until noon Tuesday and then noon Wednesday until noon Thursday.

For the past six weeks since industrial trouble erupted, Mr Souter has been training managers and staff on how to serve as guards. He says he now has enough people to run 1,000 trains next week out of a normal 1,700. The training is continuing, so within a further six weeks he will have enough staff to run all the trains.

The tactic, say some, bears similarities to the way Margaret Thatcher stockpiled coal to last out the miners' strike of 1984. And Stagecoach being a huge company, there is no way the financial pain will break him.

The Stagecoach chairman added: "No wage award will compensate their members for the money they have lost through not working. The union has to realise this is not the Seventies, their members have mortgages now, and bills for Christmas. I really do have a lot of sympathy for the guards. They, not the union leadership, are the ones who are going to suffer." Souter's record for toughness is matched only by his record for business success. Drawing on his experience working as a Glasgow bus conductor while a student, he and his sister Ann Gloag started Stagecoach with just two second hand-buses in 1980.

As well as acquiring the biggest rail franchise in SWT, he is half-owner with Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Trains, and has major bus operating interests in the United States, Hong Kong and a dozen other countries. Souter's one-fifth share of Stagecoach was worth well over £1 billion at the stock market peak and is still worth several hundred million now.

His sister, now retired, lives in a £4 million castle near Inverness and devotes her life to medical charities.

Mr Souter in contrast, still lives in a modest house near Perth, conducts his business meetings in hotel foyers, neither drinks nor smokes and educates his children at state schools.

He is soft-spoken, self effacing, sensitive and witty, and considered Left-leaning in his politics. But he is not afraid of controversy - as he showed two years ago when he financed a campaign against lifting the ban on Scottish schools teaching about homosexual lifestyles.

One analyst said his strategy on acquisitions was "to buy the company, get rid of undesirables, bang the survivors' heads together, and fly in from head office once a month to keep them terrified". The Monopolies and Mergers Commission, with which he has clashed many times as he forced rivals off the road with free fares and running buses one minute ahead of the established service, described his tactics as "deplorable, predatory and against the public interest".

Souter's version is different. He does what he has to do to win, and believes passengers will back him. "I have invited the RMT into some companies we own," he said. "We are not politically motivated and we are not union breakers. But we will keep going."