Hot on the heels of the June newsletter, I am sending outthis one to announce the e-publication of On the Wrong Line, my book on railprivatisation, which is now available on Kindle.
The book has been edited and updated, though most of theoriginal remains, but there is one fascinating addition, an appendix of astatement by John Major on why he privatised the railways. This is fascinatingbecause in his autobiography, Major barely mentions rail privatisation, and yetit was one of his most controversial and widely publicised policies. Therefore hisjustification is an important contribution to the debate. The book can bepurchased via thislink and Down The Tube, my book on the London Underground PPP, which hasnow been on line for nearly a year can be obtained here.
We await the publication of the High Level OutputSpecification and the Statement of Funding Available which has to be published thismonth and will tell us what plans the government has for rail investment andwhat money is available to pay for it. It will certainly keep me busy for awhile. All the signs are that the government will retain its commitment to railand will not squeeze the industry too much, and will extend its plans to electrifymore lines, with the Midland Main Line top of the list.
The signing of the deal for the crazy Intercity ExpressProgramme, the new trains for the intercity routes, is also expected althoughthere are last minute attempts within the industry to point out the madness ofa huge PFI scheme that offloads vast amounts of risk onto the private sectorwhich will undoubtedly charge massive amounts for the pleasure. When will theyever learn?
Because publication of this newsletter has come so quicklyafter the last one, there are only a couple of new entries on the side. There is only one Rail article, looking at the implications of the franchising process for Bristol For TheTimes article I wrote a piece about the hoo-ha over Network Railcutting down trees while my latest TSSAcolumn covers chaos over fares.
I have also written the foreword for the latest book from Keith Strickland, an excellent railway photographer, who is donating the royalties for In Search of Steam which has just been published to the Railway Children. I’m not really a great fan of steam engine books but this book covers a widevariety of foreign railways with photographs that are designed to show the locomotives in a wider context. Keith manages to ensure that the photos are of interest even to non steam buffs. There are some real gems, such as a steam engine thunderingdown a Jordanian street and a tank engine in a small Swiss town. It can be bought through Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Search-Steam-Keith-Strickland/dp/0752465600/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341401762&sr=1-1
Anyone interested in getting signed copies of any of my books, do email me. Otherwise buy them on Amazon through the site.
Please keep on clicking on the ads on the site – it generatesthe income to pay for it. And do follow me on Twitter – passed the 4,500 markrecently and heading for 5,000. It’s a great way to communicate.
Let’s hope the sun shines soon….
Christian
Great Railway Revolution
The Epic Story of the American Railroad...
- Find out more
- Order online
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us your Railway News!