Where there is no vision, the people perish
My latest think piece for Passenger Transport magazine argues that there are uncomfortable echoes of the 1948 rail nationalisation in the lack of clarity over what the railway is there to do for people, passengers and places and how in concrete terms it is going to do it. It makes the case for looking forward […]
Rail freight in Latvia
My feature for Today’s Railway’s Europe takes an in-depth look at the Latvian rail freight scene with a particular focus on Ventspils based operator, Baltijas Ekspresis. You can download it here
My latest ‘Connections’ newsletter l Issue 7 I January 2025 I Stories of progressive change
In this issue… + Netherlands 1971 – a story of progressive change + An in depth look at the UK’s most progressive railway + Impulses clear, details contested, outcomes unclear – analysis of 8 months of the not so new UK government on transport + Future shock: the city that pays knowledge workers to move […]
Time for a second light rail revolution
In 1992 Manchester’s city centre once again reverberated to the sound that means public transport is getting serious. The sound of the low rumble of trams. Prior to that every UK tram system (bar Blackpool) had been silenced decades earlier. A light rail revolution had begun. A revolution which tied in with the revival of […]
Labour on transport – impulses clear, details contested, outcomes unclear
Eight months in and one Secretary of State for Transport down here’s an analysis of where thing’s stand on the not so new Westminster administration’s approach to transport policy. In every dream home a heart ache Housing is the leitmotif for what the new administration wants to do. For the public transport sector the nature […]
Britain’s most progressive railway
With the opening of the Northumbria line and the arrival into service of new Metro trains it feels like a good time to tell the story of Britain’s most progressive urban rail network… There’s two key elements to a successful urban rail network – best use of emerging technology and local decision makers who embody […]
Decarbonising suburban transport
A one year fellowship for the Foundation for Integrated Transport Most reports and research about local transport is about urban centres. Yet most people don’t live in urban centres – they live in suburbs. Therefore there is no planning and thinking about the suburbs – there is no decarbonisation. We also can’t decarbonise through the […]
We know what makes the new administration tick – but the details are up for grabs
It’s too early to say how the new Westminster administration’s transport policy will shake out in detail – but we do know what’s making it tick. In every dream home a heart ache Housing is the leitmotif for what the new administration wants to do. For the public transport sector the nature of an expansion […]
My latest ‘Connections’ newsletter l Issue 6 I October 2024 I Stories of progressive change
In this issue (download it here)… ? Policy geek postcard on Sheffield’s stunning grey to green transformation? Stories of progressive change: the freeway fighters of America?? In depth: How Ireland is challenging car captivity? The new Westminster administration’s big choices, number one: putting the public back into public transport control and ownership? The future shock […]
Putting the public back into public transport
The battle of ideas over the best way to provide public transport is effectively over. Even the last Conservative government had given up on advocating for bus deregulation or anything remotely like the original rail privatisation vision. The new Labour government is far more enthusiastic about reversing both than the last Labour administration. Hence the […]