Christian Wolmar

The Seattle transit system is excellent and there are lessons for the UK. The frequent buses in the city centre all take bikes – on the front which would never be allowed in London because health and safety would beworriedaboutimpaling passengers – and  are wheelchair accessible. I saw wheelchair users getting on and off without any helpers because the device, which does not involve the bus kneeling but rather is ...

Now in Seattle, and its raining which apparently it does all the time. American railroads are indeed fascinating.  Freight first. I spent a day being shown round some of the yards in Chicago which is the railway capital of the US. Much freight - and indeed all passengers - still transfer from one train to another in Chicago where the main station, Union, still has east and west platforms which are ...

It seemed a good idea at the time. Well, at least to some people. Instead of reinstating a railway line through the rapidly expanding hinterland of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire County Council pushed for a guided busway. The narrow old rail track between the city and St Ives could then accommodate a twin track for buses which would then be able to leave the old track bed to serve the growing dormitory ...

Eurostar has always been a creature of government. All the major decisions determining its service have been made by government or state-owned railways but now the company is determined to establish itself in its own right. To do that would, ultimately, require Eurostar to be entirely freestanding and, obviously, to make a profit so that it would not be dependent on government handouts.  The first step towards this was Eurostar’s establishment, ...

When in 2003 the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone successfully introduced a £5 congestion charge for vehicles entering the centre of the city during the day, it was expected that many other cities, or indeed countries, would follow suit. Indeed, transport planners around the world flocked to London to scrutinise the scheme and analyse the results which, on the whole, were largely positive. In the immediate aftermath, trip times decreased ...

Electric cars are about to take off. Or at least, that is the hope of governments around Europe and beyond which are rapidly developing policies to encourage their take up. However, there are numerous hurdles to overcome before electric cars are first produced in sufficient numbers to make an impact and then actually bought by the motoring public.  Electric cars have, in fact, been around almost as long as the internal ...