Christian Wolmar

 Along with tower blocks and shopping precincts, one way systems were a product of the 1960s ethos that failed to put people first. They were designed to speed up traffic but left devastated communities and irate drivers in their wake. It was an era when the motorist was king and no one had thought of the consequences of the uncontrolled growth of car use in urban areas not designed to ...

To a time traveller from the recent past, Britain's modern railway network, with its garish, overcrowded carriages, its inevitable delays and its forgotten rural stations crumbling beneath the weeds, would come as a terrible shock. For the Victorians and Edwardians, the railways were the supreme symbol of British engineering, enterprise and vision, heralding a new age of modernity and mobility that drew gasps of wonder across the world. And as ...

The harsh truth is that Boris Johnson has very little room to manoeuvre over his transport budget. He is likely to be forced to raise fares even if that allows his political opponents to make capital out of the increases. Virtually everything that has happened since he became Mayor has reduced the amount of money coming into Transport for London's s coffers. Most importantly, there is a four per cent reduction ...

Tim O'Toole, the managing director of London Underground who is leaving at the end of the month, launched a scathing attack on the £30bn Public Private Partnership created by Gordon Brown to fund the refurbishment of the Tube in an exclusive interview with the Standard. Mr O'Toole an American who joined London Underground six years ago after a career on freight railways in the US, also warned Londoners that while major ...

Tim O'Toole's departure is not only a great loss for Londoners but a serious blow to Boris Johnson. His departure increases the likelihood of strikes, makes it more difficult to solve the Tube's financial problems and leaves the system rudderless at a perilous time. Mr O'Toole might not have solved all the problems London Underground faced when he took over six years ago but he has certainly done far better than ...

This has been the worst weather related transport chaos in living memory. Admittedly, it was the heaviest snowfall for a couple of decades and fell on a Sunday night when traffic is light, allowing it to settle.    However, it is still pretty inexcusable that the system fell apart so completely on Monday morning. ...