The UK cannot wait 30 years for a modern rail network.
In this March 2019 photo, rescuers work at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crash south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Deregulation is playing a role in transportation disasters.
AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene
High-profile rail and aerospace disasters of recent years have been the deadly consequence of the systematic erosion of safety precautions due to deregulation.
Electric trains use seven times less carbon dioxide than cars. With careful planning, railways could drastically cut emissions from a sector that now accounts for a quarter of the carbon in our air.
George Eliot (1819-1880), aged 30.
Alexandre-Louis-François d'Albert-Durade/National Portrait Gallery
It’s hotter and more crowded on the Underground but some things have got better for commuters.
A proposed new train in Mexico would connect the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, on the Yucatan Peninsula, easier to reach from Cancun.
REUTERS/Mauricio Marat/National Institute of Anthropology and History
An ambitious new train would link resorts like Cancun to inland ancient ruins and colonial towns. That means laying rail across 932 miles of dense jungle, pristine beach and indigenous villages.
Eskom and Iscor were formed to feed the railway network’s need for cheap electricity and steel.
Shutterstock
Though formed by the state, Eskom and Iscor enjoyed very little state support in their infancy. To survive, they had to cooperate with the private sector companies they were meant to compete with.
Driverless cars will form a fast, efficient transport network, which will make car ownership redundant. But they could also spell the end of public transport.
The problem of unsafe drinking water afflicts poor communities most.
Reuters/Carlos Barria
Just as America’s highways, sewage systems and water pipes need fixing, so does the growing gap between rich and poor. Trump and the Democrats could use that money to address both.
The world’s first commercial hydrogen-fuelled train in Germany.
David Hecker/EPA
Planners have long tried to determine the ideal city size, and ideas have evolved with changing circumstances. But a good city depends more on the way it’s managed than on how many people it holds.
From car mechanics to coffee shops, the railway arches have long provided refuge from inner city rent hikes for small businesses.
Some fanciful plans were imagined for Melbourne back in the day – some included jet cars.
C.F. Beauvais in the Argus Weekend Magazine, August 28, 1943/Trove
We have forgotten how to be imaginative when planning our cities. Looking back into Melbourne’s planning history, we might be able to find some inspiration to tackle rapid growth in a creative way.
Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in embrace during the groundbreaking summit between the North and South Korean leaders earlier this year.
South Korean president's office handout
Regional areas are expanding, and yet not enough attention is being paid to improving rail access to capital cities. This affects the liveability of the areas.
Surveys suggest lots of people want to renationalise the railways.
Callum Chapman via Unsplash
Under current EU rules, Britain cannot recreate a railway monopoly. It can, however, follow the lead of other EU countries in bringing more of the rail sector into public ownership.
French President Emmanuel Macro arrives at the Tallinn Digital Summit, September 28, 2017.
Aron Urb/EU2017EE Estonian Presidency
Bruno Tinel, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et Jean-Michel Servet, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
Since his election, Emmanuel Macron has emerged as a man of the “liquid” society, where finance, labour, politics and people shift and flow. What matters is change, not the direction one is taking.
Professsor in Transport and Supply Chain Management and Deputy Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) at the University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney