Rail 470: Unlike the UK, the sun is rising on Japan’s privatisation
With privatisation frequently held as the ultimate model of how to run a railway, Christian Wolmar believes that Britain's failure ...
Broadwater Revisited
The concierge looks at you through the glass door before pushing the buzzer to let you in. ‘Can I help ...
Rail 469: Railway industry buckles as media turn up the heat
The railway has admirably fulfilled its traditional summer role as silly season Aunt Sally for the media but, points out ...
Is there no hope for rail users?
The news that Connex is cutting services into London Bridge to ensure better punctuality must seem like the last straw ...
Oldies rule, OK
The theme over the copious English breakfasts during the Beamers' tour of Somerset was to attribute cricketing definitions to the ...
Rail 468: Class of 2003: end of year report says ‘must do better’
In his assessment of performance in the railway school at the end of the academic year, 'headmaster' Christian Wolmar concludes ...
Charge opposition routed
The London congestion charge has attracted more opposition than any political measure since the poll tax. Despite its undoubted success ...
Rail 467: Son of privatisation seems fated to be a problem child
Privatisation was designed to cut the cost of the railway to the government. So it's an acute irony that it ...
No more nurdling
The wonderful thing about trying to achieve my middle age ambition of a maiden century is that I care so ...
Livingstone’s congestion charge has wider implications
It is no exaggeration to say that Ken Livingstone's congestion charge has been one of the most successful innovations ever ...
Sort it out, Mr Darling
The cash crisis facing the railways has been baldly exposed by yesterday's announcement from Tom Winsor, the rail regulator, that ...
Rail 466: It’s the system that should be in the dock after Hatfield
If anyone is put on trial for the Hatfield disaster, Christian Wolmar wonders whether it should be the mandarins and ...
Concreting over the South-East
First we had John Prescott announcing a couple of weeks ago that 200,000 homes were to be built in the ...
Garden city points the way
When Letchworth Garden City was founded a century ago, the first inhabitants voted overwhelmingly for keeping the place ‘dry’. Sure, ...
Rail 465: Disconnection of Connex brings ‘British Rail Mk 2’
With the removal of Connex from the South Eastern franchise, the 'softly softly' renationalisation of the railway continues. But why, ...
Why we are stuck in transport dark ages?
Slowly, indeed about as fast as the traffic flows in our towns and cities, the government’s appalling record on transport ...
The road less travelled
Congestion charging has suddenly become a mainstream political issue. Before Ken Livingstone’s successful introduction of the charge in London in ...
100 not likely
Attentive readers will recall that the last article left me at the crease for the first game of the summer, ...
Rail 464: Bowker’s ‘Mission: Impossible’ – solving the capacity conundrum
SRA Chairman Richard Bowker is in an impossible position, at the mercy of forces beyond his control, argues CHRISTIAN WOLMAR ...
Housing barrier to euro
The announcement on the Euro has highlighted two related aspects of housing policy that are rarely brought to the public’s ...
