Christian Wolmar

The London Underground is unique. That is not just because it was the world’s first subterranean railway, built more than 30 years ahead of any other. Nor is it because the system is the largest or the most heavily used, which actually is no longer the case. No, the reason that the London Underground is different from any other subway system is that it has become the very emblem of ...

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 ...

I have been asked numerous times by various TV and radio stations, including several foreign ones, to comment on the likely transport problems in the forthcoming Olympics. They are all in search of that all too popular story, ‘transport chaos hits Olympics’ but actually I have been reluctant to give it to them. As a pundit, it is my job to stick my neck out. For the most part, I avoid ...

The business plan for Transport for London due to be approved tomorrow is a brilliant piece of magic. It manages to combine £7.6bn worth of savings together with what it says is the greatest programme of investment in 80 years. Bits of this are true - there is a great amount of investment coming through, with Crossrail, the Tube upgrades and bits of nonsense,  some enjoyable, like the cable car ...

  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 ...

I am often rung up by a radio or TV station and asked to comment on some local incident where, according to the reporter, ‘passengers lives have been put at risk’ or there was a ‘shocking incident’. Nearly always these stories are overblown by editors desperate to find something to cover a slow news day and I make my excuses, declining to appear on the programme and hoping that the ...