Rail 529: Level Crossing Tragedy was a Disaster Waiting to Happen
The tabloids are rightly blamed for hyping up dangers on the railway but, as CHRISTIAN WOLMAR explains, the deaths of two girls on a level crossing at Elsenham show that the ‘red tops’ aren’t always wrong on safety issues.
I’ve been consorting with the devil. Those of you who read The Sun will have been surprised to see my ageing features (all 56 years of them…) decorating its columns - on ...
It works in Germany – so why not here?
I have seen the future. And it is German. The TollCollect system of making lorries pay for using the German Autobahn is the biggest and most sophisticated road charging system in the world. And it is working, allaying many of the fears and doubts about the system.
On a recent visit to Berlin, I was given a full briefing of the system and taken out to see how it works ...
Rail 528: Save the sleeper campaign
The battle to save the 'Night Riviera' has implications way beyond the West Country. After chairing the launch of the campaign group, CHRISTIAN WOLMAR warns that the issue is a testbed for the DfT's ability to force through unjustified cuts.
One of the rather late legacies of the Strategic Rail Authority was the suggestion that the West Country ‘sleeper’ was not value for money and therefore should be scrapped. The idea ...
CBI shows its true colours
I love the CBI for the nakedness of its self-interested lobbying which occasionally lapses into sheer hypocrisy. Whenever the CBI produces anything on transport, it always accompanies its findings by a demand for more money to be spent on the infrastructure.
However, the rest of the time the CBI is always pressing for a reduced tax burden on business and less government involvement in the economy. Sir Digby Jones, the CBI ...
How rail safety was knocked off the headlines
In the first few years after the privatisation of the railways, rail safety became a major issue that was rarely off the front pages of newspapers. This had been stimulated by a series of high-profile crashes in a five-year period starting with Southall in September 1997 and continuing with Ladbroke Grove and Hatfield, through to Potters Bar in May 2002.
Leaving aside Selby, which was caused by a Land Rover ...
