Transport Times

Lists my columns and other articles in Transport Times.

Will Gordon learn the PPP lesson?

Will Gordon learn the PPP lesson?

Now that Big Gordon is assured of the Premiership, unless he falls under that proverbial bus, it is worth reflecting ...
Serivce culture still missing on the railways

Serivce culture still missing on the railways

When the railways were privatised, one of the few promises I believed was that the new companies would be more ...
Exploiting development value is key to rail profits

Exploiting development value is key to rail profits

One of the reasons that the railways, even in their heyday, struggled to make ends meet was that they were ...
Transport excesses must stop

Transport excesses must stop

Jogging on Hampstead Heath on Maundy Thursday was a delight. There were hardly any people despite the strong sun which, ...
Gordon Brown will give go ahead to crossrail

Gordon Brown will give go ahead to crossrail

Gordon Brown has been largely silent on transport and therefore it is very difficult to assess what he is likely ...
Profit motive means wasted assets

Profit motive means wasted assets

The Channel Tunnel is a sadly wasted asset. Far from being a vital transport link with Europe, its relative unimportance ...
Good PR masks Network Rail failures

Good PR masks Network Rail failures

The railway industry generally gets a much worse press than it deserves. Despite the fact that even at the worst ...
Leasing row prevents Pendino extension

Leasing row prevents Pendino extension

The rail companies may be forced into offering a new excuse for why people cannot get on their intended train: ...
Unrealistic franchise bid leads to fiasco

Unrealistic franchise bid leads to fiasco

The chaotic scenes and the passengers’ strike on the trains in the West Country have highlighted fault lines in the ...
Tread softly over non radial routes

Tread softly over non radial routes

The most intractable problem in urban transport is how to deal with non-radial journeys. This was apparent at the West ...
Department for Transport is too timid

Department for Transport is too timid

Rod Eddington was rather miffed at the press coverage of his report. It concentrated on his support for road pricing ...
High speed line will never happen

High speed line will never happen

It was brave of London & Continental to rebrand the Channel Tunnel Rail Link as High Speed One (thankfully not ...
Lack of courage hinders transport progress

Lack of courage hinders transport progress

Timidity is the enemy of good governance. If anything characterises New Labour’s failings, it is the government’s failure to show ...
Canals are an underused resource

Canals are an underused resource

Over the years as a transport writer, I have covered numerous attempts by entrepreneurs and idealists to make use of ...
Roads fail the reality test

Roads fail the reality test

It is remarkable how little evaluation of road schemes is carried out once the shiny new tarmac has been laid ...
Cross party consensus is the only answer

Cross party consensus is the only answer

The Tories appear have upped the stakes on the issue of a greener agenda. Initially they seemed to be trying ...
Take out the yellow lines

Take out the yellow lines

Here’s a big idea for Douglas Alexander on his return from his hols: get rid of the yellow lines that ...
GNER debacle marks the end of an era

GNER debacle marks the end of an era

It is, as Rail magazine put it wittily, the end of a GNera. The widely expected demise of the GNER ...
And the winner is … Ken Livingstone

And the winner is … Ken Livingstone

I was at the National Transport Awards the other night, finding myself, as usual, rather galled about all the self-congratulation ...
Alexander and the environment - is it real commitment?

Alexander and the environment – is it real commitment?

There is the whiff of change in the air. At first the replacement of one rather dull Scottish lawyer by ...
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