Darling facing a rough year
In the dog days of the Christmas and New Year break, journalists scrabbling for a story suddenly hit upon transport issues. First was the fact that Labour had failed to deliver on most of the promises...
View ArticleTrouble ahead on the rails?
On the face of it, the railways are the least of the problems facing the new transport secretary, Douglas Alexander. In recent months, there has been nothing but good news on the sector. The percentage...
View ArticleCosting the earth
The climate on climate change is changing. At last year’s Labour Party conference, there was still a debate about how serious an issue it was; if politicians mentioned it at all, it was as an...
View ArticleRunning on empty?
It may seem unbelievable to many commuters in the south east but it was transport that won the Olympics for London. The capital’s transport system may seem to be overcrowded and underfunded to regular...
View ArticleBlood on the tracks
The long slow death of Metronet had an air of inevitability ever since the arbiter, Chris Bolt, announced late last year that the company was spending more money than expected and that some of this...
View ArticleCrossrail project full of doubts with recession looming
Nearly a year ago, in what was intended to be a pre-election flourish, Gordon Brown announced the definitive go-ahead for the Crossrail scheme. It had been a long time in gestation, with various early...
View ArticleFares rises show lack of clear strategy on railways
Every January, the new year opens with bad news about the railways. The rise in fares which are imposed in time to greet people renewing their season tickets at the start of the year is usually...
View ArticleLord Adonis interview: the line manager
A crisis is creeping up on the tracks. The railways are facing their most difficult year since privatisation in the mid 1990s because passenger numbers are set to fall in the face of the recession....
View ArticleIs there really a financial crisis on the railways?
Almost unnoticed, the railways are enjoying an investment boom. Major projects, such as Crossrail, Thameslink and the East London Line Extension are under construction while electrification of the...
View ArticleGreening’s dilemma over HS2
Justine Greening, the new transport secretary, faces a daunting learning curve on the complexities of the rail industry as she prepares to make decisions on a range of railway projects that involve...
View Article
