Rail 965: All hail the 'Nobody gives a Damn' railway

Rail 965: All hail the ‘Nobody gives a Damn’ railway

Christian Wolmar Let me introduce you to the NGAD Railway. Or you may have encountered it already if you know ...
The Queen should have gone by train

The Queen should have gone by train

The Queen loved the royal train. The Royal yacht was a luxury that was more for show than convenience but ...
Rail 964: The terrible toll of suicide on the tracks

Rail 964: The terrible toll of suicide on the tracks

Lady luck has not shone on Richard Hughes-Jones. Well it did at first. As a five year old, he remembers ...
Spectator letter: Faux capitalism

Spectator letter: Faux capitalism

Ross Clark's compelling critique (August 13) of the water companies comes to the wrong conclusion. He is right to say ...
Avanti winning the wrong competition

Avanti winning the wrong competition

When the railways were privatised a quarter of a century ago, Prime Minister John Major  said that it was to ...
Rail 963: Can Tories really do Net Zero?

Rail 963: Can Tories really do Net Zero?

We have to talk about Net Zero. Seriously. And what it really means in terms of transport. The dismal contest ...
The real story of British Rail

The real story of British Rail

A quarter of a century on, the political party that abolished British Rail seems to be busy recreating it. Back ...
Rail 962: Ideology rules the railways

Rail 962: Ideology rules the railways

Halfway through the launch of Rail Partners, I had one of those jumping out of the bath moments which made ...
July 2022 newsletter

July 2022 newsletter

It is difficult not to be depressed as I write this during the heatwave. I would in fact enjoy the ...
Rail 961: Some ideas for Labour

Rail 961: Some ideas for Labour

When I first started writing this column in the mid 1990s, it had already become pretty clear that the days ...
Rail 960: Confusion over future of rail

Rail 960: Confusion over future of rail

The government’s consultation paper on the Williams Shapps report published on June 9 mistakenly put the year down as 2021 rather ...
From Marples to Crossrail - how things change

From Marples to Crossrail – how things change

The new and very thorough biography of Ernest Marples, The Shadow behind Beeching, which has just been published by Pen ...
How to sort out the railways

How to sort out the railways

If there is one thing that the current rail strike tells us, it is that no one is in charge ...
Rail 959: Why it's only the state that can sort out the railways

Rail 959: Why it’s only the state that can sort out the railways

The railways are suffering from a series of intermingled crises and as Nigel Harris argued so cogently in the last ...
Strike chaos serves both sides' interests

Strike chaos serves both sides’ interests

It’s fortunate that many Londoners have become accustomed to working from home over the past couple of years because they ...
Rail 958: Crossrail gives us the chance to celebrate

Rail 958: Crossrail gives us the chance to celebrate

The time for carping is over. Let’s for once just celebrate and enjoy some good news. Yes, I know, I ...
Rail 957: How SouthEastern scandal exposed franchise failings

Rail 957: How SouthEastern scandal exposed franchise failings

In writing this column every fortnight since 1995, I have always questioned the value of privatising an industry that is ...
Rail 956: Heading for trouble

Rail 956: Heading for trouble

There’s trouble brewing down the line. Industrial relations trouble, that is. The RMT union has launched a ballot of its ...
How Great British Railways can learn from the old BR

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 ...
Letter to The Times: Crossrail does not take away money from the North

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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