It is impossible to exaggerate the extent of the crisis that the railways are facing. Glib optimism that people will come back because they did in the past, such as after  9/11 and the attacks on the Tube, is utterly and completely wrong. There are two components to this crisis which is why the future is so bleak. First, there is the immediate impact of the pandemic and its...

(With apologies to Émile Zola) A letter to Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Sir Permit me to set out how a key industry is being wrecked by the cowardice and failings of a series its stakeholders. I address you, Mr Johnson, because  it is under your name (I was, like Zola going to say ‘reign’ but it is not quite appropriate), that the railways are set to be more damaged...

Let’s look to the future for once, given that the present is so bleak. I will desist from pointing out, once again, the madness of the ‘don’t use the railways’ policy, except to mention it in the shorter piece accompanying this one. There is no doubt that out of the chaos, a new structure for the railways will be needed. Once the present ‘emergency measures agreements’ run out in...