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  A QUARTER of a century after rail privatisation began, the UK’s system of train operating franchises has run out of steam – with the government making “the first step in bringing Britain’s fragmented network back together.” The move, announced by transport secretary Grant Shapps, comes as the government extended its programme of emergency payments […]

TWO studies into the spread of COVID-19 on railways have found that the chance of contracting the disease by travelling on a train is extremely low, according to a report in Rail magazine The RSSB (formerly the Rail Safety and Standards Board) estimates that the risk of infection per passenger journey is only 1-in-11,000 journeys. […]

    Travelling along London’s Hampstead Road towards Euston today and looking at the devastation brought about by the demolition of surrounding buildings for HS2 prompts once again the thought: Will it ever be needed? Coronavirus has changed the way we all work and by the time the line opens, with perhaps £100bn spent, we […]

The public are being urged by ministers to buy a newspaper to help save an industry that is being strangled by the coronavirus epidemic. The lockdown means circulations have been dramatically cut with a huge loss of advertising as businesses have scaled down or shut. Journalists are being laid off and papers closing. The regional […]

ONCE, on a luxury train journey from Venice to London, I sat in the dining car alongside a couple who looked very grumpy indeed. She was pouting. He was in a sulk. It couldn’t have been the menu – which offered a splendid repast of freshly cooked food. They must have had an almighty row, […]

  TODAY is the dawn of a new age of the railway as Boris Johnson gives the go-ahead for HS2 as well as new tracks across the Pennines. At last we have a vision in the spirit of Stephenson and Brunel, shedding our image as a nation that can’t get it together with  big infrastructure […]

CAN there be a time warp like this anywhere on the British railway system? Elderly Tube trains dating from 1938 trundle between Ryde and Shanklin in the Isle of Wight as they have done for the past 30 years. It is quite surreal to see carriages that once did service for squashed London commuters in […]

WHEN I’m asked about the greatest train journeys in the world I always recommend the Caledonian Sleeper, the train that runs from London’s Euston to the West Highlands of Scotland. Like all the best journeys, this is totally transformative, taking you from the hustle and bustle of the Euston Road to the beauty and tranquility […]