Christian Says
Christian Says

Rail 1024: How they do it in Japan
The news that Tokyo Metro, the state owned company that runs part of the city’s underground network is to help ...

rail 1023: Batty shed exposes HS2 incompetence
Only by looking at the origins of the HS2 project can we understand how we get to £100m bat tunnels ...

Rail 1022: Budget’s transport failings
This was not a good budget for transport. There was some positive aspects such as the confirmation of some long ...

Rail 1021: How will the railway revolution play out?
The government has placed great emphasis on ‘sorting out the railways’ as a way of showing things can change and ...

Newsletter Nov 24 – with lots of links to recent posts
Dear subscriber (to subscribe fill in form on home page) Oh dear, so much to get in – apols. First, ...

Christian Wolmar newsletter March 24: New book, ride on Normandy beaches and a walk round London stations
Dear subscriber Such a long delay since the last newsletter, and therefore so much to say. First, I have sent ...

Rail 996: The fiasco to end all fiascos
In over a quarter of a century of writing this column, there has been no end of scandals, mishaps, errors ...

Rail 993: Edinburgh tram success came at a price – and au revoir Nigel Harris
So how did the tram line in Edinburgh end up costing nearly twice its original estimate of £500m? That is ...

A newsletter with more links than a seaside golf course
Well busy does not describe the last month or so. Of course I chose May to go on holiday after ...

Driverless car vision abandoned
So what happens when a dream turns into, well, a pipedream? I spent today to find out by attending a ...

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 ...

July 2022 newsletter
It is difficult not to be depressed as I write this during the heatwave. I would in fact enjoy the ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...