Chris Bolt

Christopher Bolt CB is a British economist and, formerly non-executive chairman of the Office of Rail Regulation, the national economic and safety regulatory authority for Britain's railways, and (separately) the arbiter for the London Underground public-private partnership.

Civil service background

An economist by training, Bolt joined the civil service in 1975 and worked as an economist in a number of departments, including HM Treasury and the Home Office. From 1988 to 1989, he was part of the Department of the Environment team responsible for privatising the water industry and establishing its initial regulatory regime. He then joined the Office of Water Services, the independent regulator for Britain's water industry, as head of economic regulation.

Railways

In 1994, Bolt moved to the Office of the Rail Regulator to take up appointment as chief economist. After Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott MP decided not to reappoint John Swift QC as Rail Regulator, Bolt was given a seven-month contract as Rail Regulator pending Prescott's decision on the full-term appointment of Tom Winsor from 5 July 1999.