Christian Says
Nov 17th 2013
Nov 17th 2013
Cycling tragedies require a rapid response
The spate of five cyclists being killed within the past fortnight on London's streets demands an urgent respone. As I have argued in the Observer in the piece posted on this site, the Cycling Vision set out by Andrew Gilligan,Boris Johnson's cycling tsar, is full of good ideas, but it is all too slow and cumbersome.
In the Observer article, I mention that change must be brought about quickly and efficiently. I point to Sevilla where the transformation has been remarkable in boosting the numbers of cyclists and to New York. In contrast, TfL and Johnson have argued that care must ...
Rail 735: HS2 – the fundamental questions
Christian Wolmar
The optimists who thought that publication of the – euh fifth iteration – of the business case for HS2 would settle the matter one way or another will have been deeply disappointed. Far from the thorough reconsideration of the pros and cons of the case for the line, the report tinkers around the edges of the previous efforts and is not the radical departure from the previous methodology that ...Sides becoming more entrenched over HS2
The only strange aspect of the growing controversy over HS2 is that it has taken so long to come to the boil. The scheme is suffering from the way it was conceived. In reality the debate that is happening now should have taken place four years ago when Lord Adonis commissioned HS2 Ltd to produce a report into the idea. That was the key error. It looked as if the ...December 15th, 2013
The privatisation that never was
On the face of it, the Railways Act has been a great success. The railways are booming with record numbers of passengers, a massive investment programme and an excellent recent safety performance. However, it is over the question of whether there is any causal relationship between privatisation and the boom in passenger numbers that the argument still rages. In what way has private sector involvement contibuted to this success story.
There ...
November 17th, 2013
Make London a haven for cyclists
London has become a cycling city – and Britain something of a cycling nation – by default. The recent surge in its popularity has been a grassroots phenomenon, prompted by overcrowded and expensive public transport, a large number of young, talented people on low wages and a wider recognition of its health and environmental benefits.
As demonstrated ...
