How Great British Railways can learn from the old BR
British Railways lives again. Well sort of. The Queen’s Speech contains plans for a Transport Bill the centrepiece of which ...
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Letter to The Times: Crossrail does not take away money from the North
Your leading article (“Digging Deep”, May 5) rightly celebrates the opening of what is a truly world-class railway. It took ...
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How they do railways better in Europe
It’s welcome news that the Government has belatedly realised that attracting people back on to trains is vital for numerous ...
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Why Crossrail took so long – and why it’s worth the wait
Crossrail was, in the words of its former chairman Tony Meggs, ‘the best project in Europe, indeed the world until ...
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The value of economics to writing about transport
I fell into book writing by accident. In all my career, I have done everything a bit late, which is ...
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Rail 953: Ukraine conflict shows rail still key in modern warfare
Never say history does not repeat itself. An aspect of the Ukranian war that has been largely neglected by the ...
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Be careful what you wish for
The reaction by many rail journalists to the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan was uncontrolled fury. They railed against ...
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Rail 952: The agenda for a new transport secretary
Given world events that have managed to put even Partygate on the back burner, it is difficult to focus on ...
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March 2022 Newsletter: Railways still relevant in modern warfare
In researching my forthcoming book on the role of the railways in the reoccupation of northern Europe following D Day, ...
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Crossrail: The whole story (sort of)
Crossrail was, in the words of its former chairman Tony Meggs, ‘the best project in Europe, indeed the world until ...
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Rail 951: LNER success shows the way forward; and a note on Transport’s eminence grise
For many years, the train operating companies have complained about excessive interference from the Department for Treasury – ooops, sorry, ...
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Crossrail – a story to cheer us up in these hard times
The big poker game that has been played over the financial future of Transport for London ever since the start ...
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Rail 950: It’s the passengers, stupid
I’m delighted that Grant Shapps is on the case of the incessant noise that ensures there is never any chance ...
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The original Northern Powerhouse – lecture for Sunderland University
It was no accident that the North of England was the cradle for the railways, nor that a self-educated but ...
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Rail 949: The creeping cuts to rail -and mystery on the Normandy invasion
Nothing encapsulates the current dilemmas on the railway than the fate of the Marston Vale line which is a 16 ...
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Rail 948: Rocky times ahead for rail
Forgive me if I welcome the New Year by letting off a bit of steam (and breaking my rule about ...
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Railways face the perfect storm
“So, Mum/Dad, what are the railways for?” That is the question the UK rail industry will be dreading hearing in ...
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The last newsletter of the year
The biggest risk of the long term effect of the pandemic is that we see a permanent change from the ...
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Rail 947: Connecting the four nations report is a diversion
In the swathe of reports and events in the past few weeks, one rather important document has been lost. This ...
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Rail 946: Beware the cuts are ‘a coming
Amid all the hoo-ha of HS2, integrated rail plans and Great British Railways, there’s a rather more serious situation brewing ...
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