The life and death of Railtrack
The British government has dismayed private investors by seizing control of the company set up in 1996 to own Britain’s ...
Rail 420: Why Railtrack’s fall was a revolution waiting to happen
The revolutionaries have triumphed over the evolutionists in the battle over the future structure of the railway industry. CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, ...
Rail 419: A railway Golden Age that slipped through our fingers
The publication of the Government’s Transport White Paper and its tenyear plan seemed set to usher in a new railway ...
Rail 418: Safety should be led by the statistics not the editorials
Most of the deaths on the railway last year involved suicides and trespass, not that you’d notice from the way ...
Rail 417: Calm before the anniversary storm for rattled Railtrack
Despite the abrupt dismissal of Chief Operating Officer Jonson Cox and the ‘new broom’ approach of Chairman John Robinson, Railtrack ...
Rail 416: Railway class of 2001: must try harder or face expulsion
As the School for Railway Children breaks up for the summer holidays after a turbulent year, CHRISTIAN WOLMAR turns headmaster ...
Rail 415: Simplifying the structure is how our railways will recover
Railtrack’s collapse, emergency speed restrictions, and soaring costs: the railway is still in crisis. CHRISTIAN WOLMAR argues that a ‘back ...
Rail 414: Déjà vu for the Underground as ‘unworkable’ PPP goes on
The much-vaunted Public Private Partnership scheme for the London Underground - complete with 30-year contracts for the consortia involved - ...
Rail 413: Two parallel rail universes – but can they ever meet?
The railways have long passed the point where simple exhortation to ‘get their act together’ will have any effect on ...
Rail 412: It is time to inquire into the purpose of these inquiries
Lord Cullen’s Ladbroke Grove inquiry report is well-written and admirably detailed but has major omissions - and, argues CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, ...
Rail 411: Memo to new ministers: early action needed on the railway
It’s the day after the general election and an extract from a memo to incoming transport ministers sent by Sir ...
Rail 410: Railtrack is dead – now let’s anoint a real successor
Despite the highly publicised appointment of a new Chairman, Railtrack is effectively a spent force, and there’s no point either ...
Rail 409: A 20-year game of Monopoly that is just one big gamble
Twenty-year franchises are one of the centrepieces of the refranchising process, based on the belief that such a long contract ...
Rail 408: Central Railway: a big idea that could even be beautiful
After all the navel-gazing of the past six months, it’s time to raise our sights and think big - and ...
Rail 407: Two not-so-wise men follow a very bright but illusory star
By playing to the tabloid gallery, the two distinguished authors of the report on train protection systems could be storing ...
Rail 406: The core question of the rail crisis – what is Railtrack for?
Railtrack is a paradox: a capitalist company without a definable product. Based on such a false premise, its structure is ...
Rail 405: SRA has failed to deliver the goods – a real vision for rail
The concept of the Strategic Rail Authority was a good one, which had the potential to be a useful cushion ...
Rail 404: A creaking structure badly in need of major rebuilding…
Privatisation, we were promised, would lever in record levels of private investment to the railway industry, - but the suspension ...
Q&A: Selby train crash
Railway expert Christian Wolmar answers our questions following the collision near Selby in North Yorkshire in which at least 13 ...
Rail 403: Competition is weaving a tangled web on ticket sales
With 2.3 million registered users, thetrainline. com has been one of the quiet success stories of privatisation and it was ...
