Chiltern Railways’ chairman Adrian Shooter is to retire at the end of the year after 18 years leading the company.

Mr Shooter has been at the helm of Chiltern Railways, which runs trains between London Marylebone and the West Midlands, via Bicester and Banbury, since 1993, when it was still part of state-owned British Rail.

In a statement he said: “I have decided to retire from the chairmanship of Chiltern Railways and Deutsche Bahn Regio at the end of December.

“By then I shall have had the great privilege of leading Chiltern for nearly 18 years and I will have reached the age of 63.

“I have enjoyed every part of my 41 years in the rail industry but especially the opportunity to lead the teams who built Chiltern Railways.”

The transport enthusiast, who lives in Steeple Aston, near Bicester, has a restored 120-year-old Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway steam locomotive from India, complete with track, in his garden and last year he and his wife Barbara drove their restored 1930s Ford Model A car in a Beijing-Paris historic rally.

He added: “It’s always difficult to decide when to move on but, having for the last three years also been acting managing director of Chiltern, I have now handed that role to Rob Brighouse.”

Work is under way to complete improvements to track between London and Birmingham in August, allowing cuts in journey times of 20 to 25 per cent between London and Chiltern’s Oxfordshire stations.

The firm is also waiting for the outcome of a public inquiry into its plan to create a second route from Oxford to London, via Bicester. If the plan is approved by the Government, the first trains should run in 2013.

Mr Shooter will continue to take an active role in the rail industry and will become chairman of the CBI West Midlands Council.

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