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Christian Wolmar

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Christian Wolmar
Born (1949-08-03) 3 August 1949 (age 75)
London, England
Alma materWarwick University
Occupation(s)Journalist, author and
railway historian
Known forTransport commentary
Political partyLabour
Websitewww.christianwolmar.co.uk

Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 3 August 1949) is a British journalist, author, railway historian and Labour Party campaigner.[1] He is known for his commentary on transport; the author of over 20 books on the topic, he is a pundit on Britain's railway industry and host of the Calling All Stations transport podcast.[2] An advocate for cycling, Wolmar founded Labour Cycles[3], which encourages the Labour Party to adopt a pro-cycling agenda.

Early life and education

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Wolmar's father, Boris Forter, was born in Moscow and his mother, Birgit Lindblom, was Swedish. They met in London.

Wolmar was educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, a French independent school in South Kensington, followed by the University of Warwick[1] where he obtained a degree in economics and was editor of the student newspaper, Campus.[4] He then squatted at Villa Road in London, helping to save the street from demolition, and co-edited the book Squatting the real story.[5]

Life and career

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Following his graduation from university in 1971, Wolmar worked for Marketing, Retail Newsagent, the New Statesman, and the London Daily News.[1] In 1976, Wolmar joined the staff of drug users' charity Release, and stopped the use of its office (1 Elgin Avenue, London W9) as a holding address for the PIE, a paedophile activist group.[6]

He was on the staff of The Independent (1989–97)[1] and their transport correspondent for four years from 1992, covering the privatisation of British Rail by the Major government. He also contributed to The Observer[7] and continues to write a regular column for RAIL magazine and contributes frequently to several other magazines.[8] His website[9] has over 1700 articles.

He was named Transport Journalist of the Year in the National Transport Awards in 2007.

Wolmar's books and columns mainly analyse the current state of the British railway industry and also cover railway history. He has long been an ardent critic of rail privatisation and argued that the structure contributed to the series of railway disasters in 1997 to 2001.

He frequently appears on TV and radio, both on history and news programmes[10]. He speaks at transport conferences around the world, both on the railways and his concerns about driverless cars. As co-host of the Calling All Stations transport podcast[11] he reports on transport news and policy, and interviews specialists from across the world of transport.

Books

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Wolmar's writings on transport, and in particular, railway history, include:

1998: Stagecoach. How the bus company Stagecoach grew from its roots in Perth to becoming a huge transport enterprise.

2003: On the Wrong Line. The story of rail privatisation.

2004: Down the Tube. An in depth analysis of the Public Private Partnership for the London Underground and its cost

2005: The Subterranean Railway: a history of the London Underground; Fire and Steam, the first major new history of the railways in Britain for 30 years.

2008: Fire and Steam, on the history of Britain's railways

2009: Blood, Iron and Gold, a history of how the railways changed the world.

2010: Engines Of War, on how the railways transformed modern warfare.

2012: The Great Railway Revolution on the history of the US railroads; an ebook version of On the Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain's Railways; an updated version of the earlier Broken Rails.

2013: To the Edge of the World, a history of the Transsiberian railway.

2018: Railways and the Raj: How the age of steam transformed India.

2022: The Story of Crossrail.

2024: The Liberation Line: The Last Untold Story of the Normandy Landings

He has also written two polemics: Are Trams Socialist? describes how Britain's transport policies have always been orientated towards favouring the motor car over public transport and Driverless Cars: on a road to nowhere suggests that the hype around this technology is greatly exaggerated.

Wolmar has also written a book on the abuse scandals in children's homes, Forgotten Children, published in 2000, and has written extensively about housing issues and local government.

Politics

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2016 London Mayoral election

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In September 2012, Wolmar announced his intention to seek nomination for the Labour candidacy at the 2016 Mayor of London elections.[12] In June 2015, after cycling over 2,000 miles and speaking at over 100 events, Wolmar won six Constituency Labour Party nominations, and went through to the final shortlist of the London Labour Party mayoral selection process.

Described by The Londonist as "the non-politician who wants to be mayor",[13] Wolmar spoke at the five official hustings about his campaign vision for a more affordable, liveable and sustainable London.[9] The campaign persuaded the eventual winner, Sadiq Khan, to push for the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street and to introduce the 'Hopper' fare. He received just over 5% of the total vote.

2016 Richmond Park by-election

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Wolmar was selected as the Labour candidate to contest the Richmond Park constituency in the 2016 by-election and ran on a strongly Remain platform.[14] He came third in the by-election, polling 1,515 votes, with 4% of the total vote, losing his deposit, as the Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Olney persuaded Labour voters to support her campaign to keep out the incumbent MP Zac Goldsmith.[15]

Personal life

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Wolmar lives in Holloway, London.[16] He is a keen cricketer and distance runner, and plays tennis. He is a diehard football fan, having supported Queens Park Rangers (QPR) for over 50 years.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Biography page, Christian Wolmar's website.
  2. ^ Topham, Gwyn (22 May 2023). "Rail passengers in England could lose wifi access amid cost cuts". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  3. ^ Wolmar, Christian (12 December 2017). "Bikes are not just for the middle classes – this is why we set up Labour Cycles". Labour List. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. ^ "UWA/PUB/C/2/44". cdm21047.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  5. ^ Whelan, Brian (2013). "What's left: the ghosts of Brixton's radical past". Channel4. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  6. ^ Robinson, Lucy (237). Gay men and the Left in post-war Britain: How the personal got political. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-84779-663-9.
  7. ^ "Let's make our cities a haven for cyclists". The Observer. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  8. ^ "Christian Wolmar's website – Titles A-Z". Archived from the original on 22 September 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Christian Wolmar".
  10. ^ "Rail privatisation: Christian Wolmar and Tony Lodge". 22 April 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  11. ^ Forrest, Adam (30 September 2024). "Ditch peak-time rail fares across UK, campaigners say". The i Paper. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  12. ^ Holdsworth, Rachel (11 September 2012). "Christian Wolmar Throws His Hat Into The 2016 Mayoral Ring". The Londonist. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  13. ^ Holdsworth, Rachel [1] TheLondonist
  14. ^ "Christian Wolmar to stand for Labour in Richmond Park by-election". BBC News. 5 November 2016.
  15. ^ Craig, Jon (2 December 2016). "Lib Dem Sarah Olney beats Zac Goldsmith in Richmond Park by-election". Sky News. News Corporation. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  16. ^ Gerald, Isaaman (14 November 2013). "To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Railway by Christian Wolmar". Camden Review. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.

Bibliography

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  • Stagecoach: A Classic Rags-to-Riches Tale from the Frontiers of Capitalism (rev. ed., 1999), ISBN 0-7528-3088-0
  • Forgotten Children: The Secret Abuse Scandal in Children's Homes (2000), ISBN 978-1901250473
  • Broken Rails: How Privatisation Wrecked Britain's Railways (2001), ISBN 1-85410-857-3
  • Down the Tube: The Battle for London's Underground (2002), ISBN 1-85410-872-7
  • The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever (2004, revised 2020), ISBN 1-84354-022-3
  • On the Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain's Railways (rev. ed. 2005), ISBN 1-85410-998-7 (previously published as Broken Rails)
  • Fire And Steam: A New History of the Railways in Britain (2007), ISBN 0753156849
  • Blood, Iron and Gold: How The Railway Changed The World Forever (2009), ISBN 1848871708
  • Engines Of War: How Wars Were Won & Lost On The Railways (2010), ISBN 978-1-84887-172-4
  • The Great Railway Revolution: The Epic Story of the American Railroad (2012), ISBN 978-0857890351
  • On the Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain's Railways (ebook, rev. ed. 2012), ASIN B008GFWHAC
  • To the Edge of the World: The Story of the Trans-Siberian Express (2013), ISBN 978-0857890375
  • The Iron Road: The Illustrated History of Railways (2014), ISBN 978-1409347996
  • Are Trams Socialist?: Why Britain Has No Transport Policy (2016), ISBN 978-1907994562
  • Railways and The Raj: How the Age of Steam Transformed India (2017), ISBN 978-0857890641
  • Cathedrals of Steam: How London’s Great Stations Were Built – And How They Transformed the City (2020), ISBN 978-1786499226
  • The Story of Crossrail: The Whole Story (2022), ISBN 978-1803281247
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