Christian Wolmar

After a period of relative calm while media and public attention was diverted overseas, the railways are now once more back on the front pages. Christian Wolmar assesses the implications of three big news stories about the industry that broke in the space of just two weeks Remember those quiet times earlier this year when the media, its attention focussed on Iraq, was singularly uninterested in anything that happened on the ...

Transport expert Christian Wolmar argues that the prima facie evidence for the cause of Sunday’s Tube crash at Camden Town points to privatisation After the derailment at Camden Town Tube station, passengers will be quite understandably concerned about safety on the Tube. The important thing is not to panic. The system is extremely safe, in many respects even more than the main line railways which, themselves, rarely have accidents. For example, the ...

The events on the Underground over the weekend have raised a simple question in the minds of the two million people who travel on it every day: Is the system safe? The answer is still ‘Yes’, because the Tube has had a remarkable safety record during its 140 year history and the basic safety mechanisms, many of them introduced after the 1987 King’s Cross disaster, are still in place. But it is ...

Following the second Tube derailment in 48 hours, this time on the Piccadilly line, rail expert Christian Wolmar gives his opinion of the issues involved. What explanations might there be? Apparently the Piccadilly Line accident on Friday was caused by a broken rail which had been checked quite recently. Broken rails do happen, but normally the maintenance regime will spot them before they happen. This derailment might have been caused by a broken rail, ...

Despite the publication of the SRA's upbeat case for rail document, Christian Wolmar warns that the railways remain in crisis - which must be tackled if political vultures gathering over the industry are to be scared away 'You are not making enough of the fact that the railways are in a complete state of crisis' said the middle-mannered and thoughtful senior source in the industry over a pleasant but alcohol free ...

This week will see the announcement of the government’s congestion-busting strategy. But far a multi billion programme of major road building, it will focus on relatively small scale measures aimed at tackling the worst blackspots around Britain’s road network. The plan is that focussing on a relatively small number of roads and junctions will unblock the worst congestion bottlenecks and ensure that traffic runs more smoothly across the country. While the ...