Christian Wolmar

London could be about to endure the embarrassing and possibly tragic fate of electing its own version of the Hartlepool monkey as mayor. Boris may be a bit of a laugh and quite a nice chap really, but behind the buffonery there is a right wing mindset that will do untold damage to the capital. First, just imagine what it would have been to have had Boris as mayor when the ...

Bring out the bunting and organise the street parties. The railways are booming, with, again, record numbers of passengers, and seeming never ending growth. The train operators are happy that their inflated bids have not got them into trouble and the government is relieved that the franchisees have not put out the begging bowl. So all seems rosy in the rail garden. If only. I wrote in The Independent (April 11) ...

As ever, have been a bit busy to blog but the coincidence of the deaths of two very significant, if totally different, transport campaigners has made me put finger to laptop. I just learnt of the death of John Tyme, who fought a series of campaigns against roadbuilding in the 1970s and 1980s, most notably at the Archway Road enquiry. Every time I cycle or drive up the Archway Road ...

Early last year, I wrote a column expressing doubts about the value of building a new north south high speed line (Rail 556). I argued that the case was by no means proven because the environmental benefits, which will increasingly dictate government policy, were marginal in relation to the cost. At the time the idea of a high speed line seemed dead and buried. The Eddington report on future transport needs ...

A few weeks ago, my partner Deborah had to drive at short notice from London to the hospital in Bangor to see her mother who had suffered a stroke. When, back in the early 2000s, her father was ill there, parking had not been problem but now the situation had changed with ticket barriers barring her route into the car park. After visiting her mother, she went to the machine to ...

Despite delays, weekend closures and overcrowding, Britons love affair with the railways seems to grow stronger every year. Passenger numbers have risen by 50 per cent since the mid 1990s and, so far,  the rate of increase shows no sign of abating. The reasons for the boom are fairly straightforward. Railways have always done well at times of economic growth and the big driver is commuting as passengers with season tickets ...