tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12902606707707000872008-05-13T08:50:05.825-07:00Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-53030835913010660972008-05-10T11:25:00.000-07:002008-05-12T03:51:31.668-07:00

I had my first proper view of the Settle - Carlisle railway a couple of days ago,when I travelled there for a DVD that is being made of my book, Fire & Steam. It is a bit embarrassing to confess that I have never travelled on the line and, indeed, even though we did a lot of filming, that still remains the case. Nevertheless, I saw much of the line including the famous Ribblehead viaduct and Dent

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-11949783370379379502008-04-30T02:40:00.000-07:002008-04-30T02:48:56.541-07:00

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 7/7 terrorist outrage

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-16741360444723331472008-04-22T03:35:00.000-07:002008-04-22T03:55:42.636-07:00

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 dual

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-41874291003107851462008-04-06T06:44:00.001-07:002008-04-06T07:10:37.107-07:00

An article on an American website asked a question which has long intrigued me: why does the Right favour roads given they require a massive subsidy from the state as well as the direct intervention of government in order to be built, and yet is suspicious of public transport spending? The article, by Alex Marshall, at http://www.governing.com/articles/0804trans.htm argues that building roads is

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-65202610693473334862008-03-23T01:10:00.000-07:002008-03-23T01:26:25.673-07:00

Staying in a small town 10 kms from Groningen, I borrowed my host's bike and rode in to town to see how it managed to become the place with the greatest modal share of cycling in Holland. I had been there five years ago and discovered that it was not just happenstance,but a deliberate result of keeping cars out of the city. Riding in, it was noticeable how car traffic thinned out as I got closer

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-61662350888310654732008-03-14T02:17:00.000-07:002008-03-14T02:26:39.955-07:00

The Dutch train system is little more than the size of the old Network SouthEast with more major towns connected by services called Intercity but which trundle along principally at 100 kph. The trains are pretty basic, the seats hard, no creature comforts, fairly surly ticket inspectors but as a way of moving lots of people around reasonably quickly and efficiently, it works. In my Dutch travels,

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-59061134145445244482008-03-12T04:57:00.001-07:002008-03-12T05:12:22.158-07:00

I am in Holland for a ten day speaking tour to local groups of the Anglo-Dutch friendship society and I plan to post regular items on the blog on my thoughts. Whenever I go to Europe and spend a bit of time there, it amazes me just how different each society is from Britain, and indeed from each other. I hope that the growing dominance of the European union does not change that. I went for a run

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-50895299452036658562008-03-04T03:19:00.000-08:002008-03-04T03:21:10.694-08:00

One of the great ironies of rail privatisation is that the rail industry is under far stricter control from outside forces than it ever was when it was a nationalised industry. Recent events, such as the fines imposed on both Network Rail and First Great Western have reinforced that view. Yesterday, Chris Bolt rail regulator announced the way that Crossrail paths would be allocated once the

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-85352532335722741802008-02-25T02:33:00.000-08:002008-02-25T02:35:04.447-08:00

Ken Livingstone could not have wished for better publicity than Porsche’s threat to take legal action over the increases to the congestion charge for ‘gas guzzlers’. It is a spectacular own goal by the car company. Obviously, its bosses thought the issue would will play well with the minority who own the car but most people will see it as self interested nonsense. Clearly, the company’s PR

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-56735720255616216932008-02-13T17:06:00.000-08:002008-02-13T17:19:30.540-08:00

Listening to the speaker from the Department for Transport, Jacqui Wilkinson, at the Greater London Assembly's Driving Change conference on what to do about congestion, I heard a new expression: she said that the Department was 'modally agnostic', meaning that it was not bothered about how we get there, just that we do. This is quite extraordinary and explains how government policy has

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-91540699890503987812008-02-07T04:46:00.000-08:002008-02-07T04:47:01.005-08:00

I’ve been asked to sum up ideas at a conference on congestion and I realise just what a difficult issue it is. Congestion is the result of a combination of economic success and transport policy failure. In a rational world, there would be sufficient incentives to ensure enough people did not jump in their cars every time they wanted to get somewhere, even to the local shops. Congestion, in other

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-72955798714885661412008-01-23T05:08:00.000-08:002008-01-23T05:09:08.561-08:00

The news that Cycling England, on whose board I sit, will receive £140m over the next three years to boost cycling is a fantastic u-turn. Alistair Darling, whose motto is ‘Don’t do it’, had refused a similar request three years ago and allocated a paltry £15m which was doubled by his successor Douglas Alexander. Now at last some serious money is being allocated and slowly, but oh so slowly, the

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-86124727651195057942008-01-11T02:35:00.000-08:002008-01-11T03:57:44.571-08:00

The launch of the new cheap car, costing just $2,500, by the Indian firm Tata poses one of those awful dilemmas for us environmentally conscious but comfortable westerners. How can we deny the benefits of mass car ownership to the developing countries when we have enjoyed its advantages for a couple of generations? However, anyone who has been to India knows that many cities are already at

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-75264203833170598412007-12-31T10:51:00.000-08:002007-12-31T10:52:44.767-08:00

What is it about cyclists that attracts such incoherent rage from a normally relatively sane person? Matthew Parris wrote an extraordinary column in The Times a couple of days ago, arguing – I kid you not – for stringing up cyclists on the nearest tree because they throw drinks cans and other litter on the narrow lanes where he walks. You can see the offending piece at http://

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-9061299694217244432007-12-17T07:21:00.000-08:002007-12-17T07:22:23.946-08:00

Whatever happened to the fuel protests? Or rather didn’t. What a wonderful damp squib they were, attracting fewer people than the average village Women’s Institute annual general meeting. What a contrast with 2000. Was it the juxtaposition of the protests with the climate change talks in Bali, which made people too embarrassed to come out to support them. I doubt it. It was probably a

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-45553425707618660252007-12-14T03:13:00.000-08:002007-12-14T03:14:18.684-08:00

The climate change discussions in Bali are clearly a stitch up. There is a pattern to this – the Europeans and most of the rest of the world put forward radical proposals while the US take a very hard line position. Then ‘negotiations’ take place and we get some sort of feeble compromise that does not really do very much to stem the flow of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The truth is that

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-70037996427912445152007-12-04T02:35:00.000-08:002007-12-04T02:37:13.287-08:00

I was at the launch of Nicholas Faith’s book on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link(which we are now supposed to call High Speed One), On the Right Line, at the House of Lords yesterday (Dec 3rd) at which that old stager Michael Heseltine gave a wonderful speech. He explained how, given the non-interventionist policies of Thatcher’s government, he was struggling to find a way to persuade her that the

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-52662089966117739062007-11-22T01:26:00.000-08:002007-11-22T01:27:42.124-08:00

The consultation paper on Heathrow which is due to be published later today is predictably pro expansion. Already, Ruth Kelly has made clear that she thinks there should be no attempt to limit flying and that the whole focus should be on carbon offsetting, something which the cannier airlines accept as inevitable but the more bullish ones are resisting strongly. Aviation exposes the deep flaws

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-13134286281711610862007-11-13T05:10:00.001-08:002007-11-13T05:28:36.619-08:00

I have just received a big press release from Ken Livingstone on hydrogen fuel buses which are going to save the day. Apparently, London will be getting the biggest fleet in the world - just 10 by the way - of these buses helping reduce the carbon footprint of the bus fleet. Ken is then quoted as saying: "Hydrogen is a fuel of the future as it improves air quality and does not produce the

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-36975549593496674662007-11-02T05:45:00.000-07:002007-11-02T07:43:51.885-07:00

The regular complaints from business organisations like the CBI and the British Chambers of Commerce about the weakness of the country's transport infrastructure are always peppered with estimates of the cost. This morning, when I received a missive from the BCC saying that the 'cost to business' was 'a staggering £17.55 bn per year' I decided to discover how this figure is calculated. I

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-38609440262310033112007-10-31T00:44:00.000-07:002007-10-31T00:46:22.630-07:00

The response published yesterday by the Department to the Stern and Eddington reports was hyped up by the Financial Times on Monday with suggestions that it would include definite plans for a high speed rail line and lots of extra motorway lanes. This apparently embarrassed the Department which wanted to slip the report out unnoticed and, indeed, it was surprising that there was no press

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-778861463990637222007-10-29T12:30:00.000-07:002007-10-29T12:57:04.787-07:00

When I was in Paris last week, I picked up the freesheet paper on the Metro and buried in the middle of the paper was a small piece that attracted my attention. It was a report on the go-ahead being given for an extension of T3, the third tram line, which has proved a resounding success, exceeding the predicted 100,000 journeys per day. The cost was to be some 400 m euros. What was amazing was

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-59530987252179586592007-10-23T01:08:00.000-07:002007-10-23T01:19:11.876-07:00

My partner Deborah and I are going to Wales this weekend from London and I really really really tried to avoid driving there. But it has proved impossible because we are undertaking a complicated three legged journey that is not accommodated on the trains. We are going for a birthday outing up a mountain in Macynlleth but also wanted to drop in on Deborah's mother who lives up the coast near

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-86227551778534390802007-10-15T00:12:00.000-07:002007-10-15T00:31:31.890-07:00

The Daily Telegraph is reporting that plans for a national road charging scheme are being quietly buried or 'back burnered' in an expression that does damage to the English language. I gave two speeches on the subject last week to conferences and I am in no doubt that this is correct. Ruth Kelly, the still relatively new transport secretary, has barely mentioned the subject since arriving at

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290260670770700087.post-32961289571766406612007-10-05T00:21:00.000-07:002007-10-05T00:23:06.039-07:00

So we have Crossrail at last. It may be somewhat the wrong scheme, not going to the right places - who wants to travel from the wilds of Kent to Maidenhead? - but it is nevertheless an essential part of London’s plans for growth and certainly better than doing nothing. But if anything illustrates the inability of the British planning system to cope with major projects, it is this. It has been so

Christian Wolmarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14727579224668463402noreply@blogger.com