Christian Wolmar

Despite the highly publicised appointment of a new Chairman, Railtrack is effectively a spent force, and there’s no point either trying to revive it by financial force-feeding or badgering it with enforcement orders it cannot possibly meet. What is needed, contends CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, is a root-and-branch re-examination of the structure of the industry by the new Government after the election. So the railways are getting back to normal. Well, if having ...

Twenty-year franchises are one of the centrepieces of the refranchising process, based on the belief that such a long contract period will encourage operators to invest. Yet the argument contains a fundamental flaw. Why should TOCs invest, asks CHRISTIAN WOLMAR when they don’t own the trains, track or stations - and can make their exit with virtual impunity at the end of the contract? After one of those all too rare ...

After all the navel-gazing of the past six months, it’s time to raise our sights and think big - and they don’t come much bigger than Central Railway’s proposed £6bn freight artery from the North to the Channel Tunnel and the Continent. Despite its disastrous start five years ago, CHRISTIAN WOLMAR believes this is one Big Idea whose time may well have come. For one fortnight only, a special offer. Let’s ...