Christian Wolmar

If new Transport Secretary Alistair Darling wants to avoid his predecessor’s fate, he must not allow himself to be hijacked by the emotional but often irrational agenda of the spokespeople for rail crash survivors, warns CHRISTIAN WOLMAR. There has, thankfully, been little noise emanating from the Department for Transport as the new Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, finds his feet. The early indications suggest he may be tough on cars and ...

The fact that Britain’s air traffic control system is been stretched to the limit has been highlighted twice this week. First, the near miss at Heathrow on Tuesday shows that the dangers of a collision above London and the South East, the world’s most congested air space are ever present. Secondly, the strike by air traffic controllers across Europe in protest at the attempt to harmonise systems across frontiers shows that ...

As the railways acquire yet another new political master following the departure of the luckless Stephen Byers, CHRISTIAN WOLMAR warns his successor that there’s more to the job than just making the trains run on time and keeping them out of the headlines. My last column ended with the remark that Potters Bar had made the situation in the railways even more fluid than before the accident. Well, the not entirely ...

Why the survivors' groups are legitimate targets Those politicians abject apologies over attempts to find out the political affiliations of rail safety campaigners are misplaced. The campaigns set up by survivors and relatives of victims of railway accidents are legitimate political targets because their leaders are demanding changes in Government policies which would cost taxpayers billions of pounds. Such groups enter the political arena and must be prepared to face its rough ...

It is difficult not to be a tad wary of John Prescott's New Communities scheme which is supposed to reshape housing policy for the next generation. After all, he was the man who was going to get us out of our cars and deliver 'integrated transport' for the nation, a concept which has never quite got off the ground. Will his New Communities plan fare any better? The plan, which like ...