It had to happen. The biggest infrastructure project the UK has ever seen was never going to be nodded through without a reappraisal given all the leaks about increased costs and the solid phalanx of opposition within the country’s (just) ruling party. Steering clear for the moment of consideration of whether HS2 is a railway worth building, the way the scheme was created and its subsequent development have been...

Franchising is dead. Long live franchising! That seems to be the message from the unexpected announcement of the new deal on the West Coast which came days after the abandonment of the franchise process for Southeastern. This one of those times where writing a column like this is just sheer pleasure. Trying to find out from my various sources what an earth is going on in the Department for...

The new transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has asked officials to ensure their briefings to him are no longer than two sides of A4. His permanent secretary has duly followed his instructions and produced a short summary of the state of the railways which been sent to Rail magazine in error. We thought it was our duty to share it with our readers. From: Bernadette Kelly, CB, permanent secretary, Department...

Now comes the hard bit. Does Keith Williams know what he is doing? I am not asking that in a critical way but rather as a genuine question expressed in a supportive context. After all, the poor man has been set an impossible task and he must feel that he is in one of those Escher drawings that seem to suggest a set of stairs that has no beginning...