Christian Wolmar

The crowds lining the platforms of every station on the route would not have been outnumbered had the Duchess of Cambridge been going for a ride. Metropolitan No 1, a steam engine that first saw service in 1898, was hauling a set of beautifully refurbished carriages and the much publicised event had brought large numbers to City stations that are normally empty on a Sunday evening. People clambered over each other ...

On January 10, 1863 the first section of the London Underground opened, between Farringdon and Paddington - the first subterranean railway in the world. It was an instant success, copied widely across the globe and giving its name to an entire system. And despite some under-funded and unloved years, it is now enjoying a renaissance. My first memory of the London ...

The creation of a mayor for London was supposed to stimulate a new type of politician who would offer brave new ideas for the city. Unfortunately, the paucity of thinking on transport in the manifestos from the two main contenders suggests the experiment has failed. Ken Livingstone went early on his Big Idea, reducing fares by seven per cent and not increasing them in 2013. His manifesto elaborates on this, promising ...

This week has seen the Mayor once again pushing one of his big ideas for re-election: driverless Tubes, bringing with them not just a more high-tech underground but an almighty confrontation with the Tube unions. In the midst of endless wrangles with the unions over Olympic bonuses, Boris Johnson might imagine that’s a popular gesture with voters. Yet he is both dead right and completely wrong about “driverless” trains. Driverless is ...

It is difficult not to greet with some scepticism the news that City Hall is setting up a new website and hotline to “name and shame” companies that clog up the streets with interminable roadworks. So there will be, we are told, 200 police community support officers imposing on-the-spot fines of up to £500 on the most egregious offenders. But will they be able to check the 4,000 roadworks a ...

  The idea of driverless trains any time in the near future is a ridiculous fantasy and Boris’s musings about them are mere political braggadacio. Sure, as Boris said,the Central and the Victoria lines, and part of the Jubilee are operated automatically, but that’s because the signalling equipment is completely different from those on the other lines.To fit the rest of the Tube network with automatic train control systems would take ...