Christian Wolmar

While banks are collapsing with the same frequency as wickets normally fall in the England middle order, it is worth considering the lessons of this debacle for the rail industry and, in particular, the Department for Transport. There are, in face, some disturbing similarities between the causes of the banking crisis and the changes in the rail industry over the past fifteen years that may result in ...

The Ryanair incident today in Rome, when a particularly bad bird strike nearly brought down a Boeing 737, is the latest in a series of high profile near misses this year to major airlines. There was the freezing fuel crash that so nearly resulted in disaster at Heathrow when a 777 landed just yards short of the runway when all the engines failed.  Had it crashed just a hundred yards further back, ...

I desperately try to avoid any grumpy old man type entries on this blog, but I can't resist this one. Today's newspapers report that a large number of under fives are being excluded from nursery schools because they keep on thumping their peers or even their teachers. Too much TV too early is blamed, but so are overindulgent parents. Indeed, i came across one of the latter on the Tube after I ...

Delighted as I am about Obama’s win, I suspect that as ever he will disappoint. His oratory was just breathtaking in his victory speech, but then I remember nearly being moved to tears at Blair’s dawn election speech at County Hall 11 years ago, even though I already knew Blair’s politics were Christian Democrat at best. ...

Walking through Holloway, north London today, I was struck at how the road and pavement engineers deliberately make life difficult for pedestrians. To walk half a mile and cross a couple of major roads, I was shunted by so called pedestrian barriers in a way that ensured I had to cover an extra two hundred yards. In fact, as it was early morning, I dodged around them on the ...

One of the rare targets on transport which the government seems to have met unequivocally. Is the reduction in deaths and serious injuries on the roads. On the face of it, the figures are excellent. The first targets, established in 1987, were met and the government is well on the way towards meeting the second set, which were to reduce deaths by 40 per cent and serious injuries by 50 per ...