From Marples to Crossrail – how things change
The new and very thorough biography of Ernest Marples, The Shadow behind Beeching, which has just been published by Pen ...
How to sort out the railways
If there is one thing that the current rail strike tells us, it is that no one is in charge ...
Rail 959: Why it’s only the state that can sort out the railways
The railways are suffering from a series of intermingled crises and as Nigel Harris argued so cogently in the last ...
Strike chaos serves both sides’ interests
It’s fortunate that many Londoners have become accustomed to working from home over the past couple of years because they ...
Rail 958: Crossrail gives us the chance to celebrate
The time for carping is over. Let’s for once just celebrate and enjoy some good news. Yes, I know, I ...
Rail 957: How SouthEastern scandal exposed franchise failings
In writing this column every fortnight since 1995, I have always questioned the value of privatising an industry that is ...
Rail 956: Heading for trouble
There’s trouble brewing down the line. Industrial relations trouble, that is. The RMT union has launched a ballot of its ...
How Great British Railways can learn from the old BR
British Railways lives again. Well sort of. The Queen’s Speech contains plans for a Transport Bill the centrepiece of which ...
Letter to The Times: Crossrail does not take away money from the North
Your leading article (“Digging Deep”, May 5) rightly celebrates the opening of what is a truly world-class railway. It took ...
Rail 955: A campaign well fought
Dennis Fancett is a happy man. But he is not totally satisfied, as there are further battles ahead. He has been ...
How they do railways better in Europe
It’s welcome news that the Government has belatedly realised that attracting people back on to trains is vital for numerous ...
Rail 954: One country, four rail systems
One of the most spurious justifications for rail privatisation was that it would ‘get government’ out of the railways’. The ...
Why Crossrail took so long – and why it’s worth the wait
Crossrail was, in the words of its former chairman Tony Meggs, ‘the best project in Europe, indeed the world until ...
The value of economics to writing about transport
I fell into book writing by accident. In all my career, I have done everything a bit late, which is ...
Rail 953: Ukraine conflict shows rail still key in modern warfare
Never say history does not repeat itself. An aspect of the Ukranian war that has been largely neglected by the ...
Be careful what you wish for
The reaction by many rail journalists to the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan was uncontrolled fury. They railed against ...
Rail 952: The agenda for a new transport secretary
Given world events that have managed to put even Partygate on the back burner, it is difficult to focus on ...
March 2022 Newsletter: Railways still relevant in modern warfare
In researching my forthcoming book on the role of the railways in the reoccupation of northern Europe following D Day, ...
Crossrail: The whole story (sort of)
Crossrail was, in the words of its former chairman Tony Meggs, ‘the best project in Europe, indeed the world until ...
Rail 951: LNER success shows the way forward; and a note on Transport’s eminence grise
For many years, the train operating companies have complained about excessive interference from the Department for Treasury – ooops, sorry, ...
