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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The wonder of rail travel
What is it about trains? In truth it would not have been surprising if they had gone the way of ...
The contradictions of railway policy are all too obvious
It is difficult to know whether to laugh or cry. At the same time as we are getting news about ...
Rail 945: Was the Integrated Rail Plan really that bad?
Imagine a slightly different world. The railways are being run by a rather impressive pair, Andy, the ambitious and media-savvy ...
Rail 944: Media gets it wrong on Salisbury rail crash
The rail collision at Salisbury attracted the usual amount of over the top coverage from the media but that is ...
At least its a plan (sort of)
It is easy to characterise the scrapping of part of HS2 as yet another great Tory betrayal, and for the ...
November 2021 newsletter
This is my newletter sent out free to subscribers - to sign up, go to my website christianwolmar.co.uk and scroll ...
Sadiq needs to scrap the Silvertown tunnel to secure Labour’s future in London
Here’s a question for Sadiq: do you want to win the next mayoral election, or at least ensure that your ...
Rail 943: Cop-out on the railways
Promises, promises. There’s quite a lot of them about. The railway structure is to be reformed, some version of British ...
Letter to The Times: rail fares need sorting
Sir, Clare Foges is right to highlight how trains could make a far bigger contribution to the net zero target ...
Rail 942: A big test for the Levelling Up agenda
‘Levelling up’ is the big idea following on from other memorable catch phrases like ‘hug a hoodie’ and the Big ...
Transport delights in Zurich
Zurich, with a population of 400,000, is one of the most pleasant places in the world to live with its ...
