Southern Pacific steam engine No. 1364 in 1891.
Wikimedia Commons
Efforts to curb railroads’ monopoly power in the 19th century hold lessons for 21st-century policymakers and internet giants alike.
Photo by Michal Parzuchowski on Unsplash
No other country has fully adopted the UK model of railway privatisation. And for good reason.
No backtracking.
Matt Buck
Public support for nationalisation is through the roof. Actually the system is only barely private.
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The British government may reverse a 50-year-old railway policy.
Monkey Business Images
Could we really reduce the number of vehicles on our roads from 37m to 9m?
Fire crews douse derailed tanker cars carrying crude oil in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que., in this July 6, 2013, file photo. A trial is now underway for three former railway employees charged in connection with the fatal train derailment.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)
As the Lac Mégantic rail disaster trial begins, here’s how technology can help prevent a repeat of the tragedy that killed 47 people.
Heavy storms in February caused parts of a California highway to give way.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo
The American Society of Civil Engineers gives US infrastructure a D+. What is it that we’re doing wrong?
Public goods come in many forms, from highways to magnificent mountains.
Road sign via www.shutterstock.com
The U.S. owes much of its prosperity to investment in public goods like highways, parks and schools. Trump’s budget poses a threat to these goods, which have already been on the decline.
from www.shutterstock.com
With 35 new inter-city routes shortlisted for testing, it’s time to start taking hyperloop seriously.
Australian governments should support the private sector to develop urban rail projects, based on examples from the US.
Dan Peled/AAP
The Australian government should look to the private sector to fund, develop and run more urban rail projects.
If only commuting was so simple.
Dominic Lipinski / PA Wire
Many of Britain’s railway employees, customers and bosses are unhappy at the state of the nation’s services.
No fat controller required.
UsmanMassod
Brexiters on the Left fear that a UK vote to Remain would permanently put the railways in private hands. Here’s our Fact Check verdict.
Could this become a regular occurance?
MTAPhotos/flickr
Cities’ metros and subways are threatened by rising flood risks but innovative engineering could protect them.
PA.
Suicide on the railways costs lives – and prevention is about much more than erecting more fencing.
The public are increasingly keen to trespass on corporate land.
MollyBob/Flickr
The UK spent much of the late 20th century voting to sell off public services – but now support is growing for a renationalisation programme.
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Integrating the UK’s expensive and fragmented rail network under public ownership could save hundreds of millions and also provide a better service.
Liberated prisoners distributing rice rations to campmates. Pakanbaroe, Sumatra, 1945. AWM 019382.
Courtesy of Australian War Memorial.
One ceremony on V J Day announced that the Sumatra railway had been completed, the construction of which had cost more than 80,000 lived and that 70 years later is still a little known story.
Maryland GovPics/flickr
There are cutting edge technologies on the cards, but can anything displace railways?
Circuit breaker.
mattbuck/Wikimedia Commons
Putting improvements to the northern lines on hold could pull the rug from under Osborne’s plans for northern cities.
Steam power. Do railway unions have a unique advantage in pay deals?
Dazzie D
The RMT’s successful negotiation will be envied, but the union has advantages few of its peers can rival as bargaining power is slowly diluted.