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PPE Lecture: Railways: Competition or Cooperation?

At a Glance
Date: Monday 7 February 2011
Time: 6pm to 7:30pm
Location: LIB2, Library
Open To: Everyone
Cost: Free
Summary: Lecture from Christian Wolmar on the privatisation of the railways.

The privatisation of the railways has been the most controversial and, arguably, the least successful of the various state sell-offs of the Thatcher and Major years. Christian Wolmar, who has documented the story of rail privatisation in several books, assesses the record and suggests a few lessons to be drawn from the story.

About Christian Wolmar

Christian Wolmar is one of the UK's leading commentators on transport matters. He has written widely on the history and economics of railways, is a trenchant critic of rail privatisation and broadcasts frequently on radio and TV.

His books include Blood, Iron and Gold (2009), Fire and Steam: A New History of the Railways in Britain (2007), On The Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain's Railways (2005), Subterranean Railway: A Social History of the Tube (2004), Broken Rails: How Privatisation Wrecked Britain's Railways (2001). His latest book is Engines of War (2010): How wars were won and lost on the railways.

His website, with an archive of his articles in newspapers and magazines, is http://www.christianwolmar.co.uk.