The Rail Review has given civil servants the whip-hand in determining the way our railway is run - but, claims CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, the signs are they are simply not up to it.
It’s an irony that the railways currently endure a greater deal of state interference than they did when they were nationalised. As Nigel Harris, [...]
Archive of April, 2006
The project to build the Channel Tunnel Rail Link has enjoyed mixed fortunes and could be termed as either a success or a failure depending on whether it is looked at from an engineering or a financial point of view. Indeed, its financial troubles have tended to overshadow a superb engineering achievement built under difficult [...]
The Labour government’s record on mitigating the environmental damage caused by transport has been lamentable and is getting worse.
That has become clearer as each successive Budget has failed to increase motoring taxes at the rate of inflation, let alone at the faster rate required to reverse the trend.The failure to do so is all [...]
Three current controversies demonstrate how the privatised railway is far less flexible and adaptable to change than BR was, CHRISTIAN WOLMAR maintains.
Historically, the railways have been a dynamic system. Lines have closed and opened with regularity as markets and mores have changed. But either expanding the railway or taking out redundant capacity is now almost [...]
Governments of both hues have shied away from the fundamental question about the railways. What, in the 21st century, when access to cars is near universal, is this 19th century invention for?
The corollary of this question facing ministers is therefore this: What strategy needs to be adopted for the railways?
Tony Blair’s administrations have a rather [...]
There is a big kerfuffle in London over the staffing of stations, with the Evening Standard attacking the train companies for making big profits while paying little regard to security.
It is difficult not to have sympathy with the paper and its commuters. South London suburban services are largely a free railway between most stations after [...]