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My Recent Writing
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Labour must not swallow the driverless car con
Anna Turley’s recent LabourList article about automation rightly extols the virtues of new technology while warning of its potential to cause “mass misery as well as glittering prizes”. There is a tendency to think technology is able to solve all problems, even when a cursory examination of the issue suggests otherwise – and nowhere is this more true than in relation to driverless cars. Shaun Bailey, the Tory candidate for London mayor,...
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Rail 861: Crossrail delay will be forgotten when it opens
I had been expecting an announcement delaying Crossrail for some time. As I am writing a book about the project, I have spent a lot of time in their Canary Wharf office and talked to many people involved in the scheme. It was clear for some time that the Queen had better find something else to do on December 9th, which had been earmarked for several years as the...
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Why Frank Field and Margaret Hodge are wrong
Frank Field and Margaret Hodge are both wrong. Like them, I have had my doubts about the current leadership. Just as I had them about Ed Miliband, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and, as I have been around for quite a long time, several of their predecessors stretching back to Harold Wilson. I’m sure even Clem Attlee had his faults. Yet, to sow dissent and plot, as Margaret Hodge is...
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Technology is not the only transport future
Transport and technology have long had a symbiotic relationship. Consider, for example, how the development of new types of steel changed the railways. Or think how the motor car was the catalyst for new Ford-style production processes that changed a wide variety of industries. Even the most ambitious form of transport, the space race has led to significant innovations such as, bizarrely, smoke detectors and velcro. In the other...
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The great train wreck
A couple of weeks ago I met David Grime and Alan Noble, members of the Lakes Line Rail User Group, over a very good dinner in the Brown Horse pub in Winster in the heart of the Lake District. They had contacted me in despair at the collapse of services on their beloved ten-mile Windermere branch line. This once-reliable and well-used service is now a shadow of its former...
Latest headlines
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Labour must not swallow the driverless car con
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Rail 861: Crossrail delay will be forgotten when it opens
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Why Frank Field and Margaret Hodge are wrong
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Technology is not the only transport future
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The great train wreck
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Rail 860: An open letter to Andrew Haines, now in the Network Rail hot seat
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Rail 859: How the Department for Transport messed up the Windermere branch
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About Christian Wolmar
Christian Wolmar is an award winning writer and broadcaster specialising in transport and is the author of a series of books on railway history. He was Labour's candidate for the 2016 Richmond Park & North Kingston by-election and also ran to be Labour's candidate in the last London mayoral election. Read more >>
Events
• Trains that changed the world on Wednesday, October 17 2018
• Intelligent Transport Conference at london on Thursday, November 1 2018 - Friday, November 2 2018
RT @MrTimDunn Do you like TRAINS?🚂
Do you like HISTORY?✅
Then watch #TrainsThatChangedTheWorld on @YesterdayTweets TV, Wednesday 8pm. Clever ppl like @christianwolmar & Liz McIvor are on it. I am too. This week, it’s early locos like Rocket, Patentee, and USA 4-4-0s yesterday.uktv.co.uk/shows/tr… pic.twitter.com/CbFJW6k2US
