My take on "Manchesterism" as part of a newly-published post on the Oxford-Cambridge Corridor. www.freewheeling.info/blog/oxford-...

Very frustrating. As someone who has long campaigned for devolution and far better infrastructure in the cities outside London, I support his focus. I wrote this yesterday, and I think it’s important for him to define Manchesterism in these terms. www.freewheeling.info/blog/oxford-...

At Euston. Drenched in sweat, everything late, no announcements, no information. But there’s a reason to be cheerful! Andy Burnham is the first prime minister since Harold Wilson to represent a West Coast mainline constituency. He will actually “get” why we can’t go on like this. Sunak didn’t!

IMHO they are: * Setting direction. * Appointing great people. * Knowing where the money's coming from. * Making decisions in response to escalations. Unfortunately, Keir Starmer is not very good at any of these things. Just for fun, I've also attempted to grade the other PMs of my lifetime.

Who says AI has no soul? Googled “this is our power, our house“ to find out about the poem that Andy Burnham closed his campaign with.

Why does transport integration not happen in the UK? Here's what I told the Transport Select Committee

Why do politicians do things like this? None of Trump, Farage or Boris - all far bigger liars - would have told *this* lie. They’d all have hinted at the truth with a glint of a twinkle in the eye.

What on earth's happened to Google Maps this morning?

The BBC is one of this country’s greatest inventions, one of our biggest sources of soft power and one of many people‘s (mine included) sources of pleasure. Her political opponents caused a bunch of problems that make all of these less true. She personally has the power to fix them. Just do that.

Does the Govt's communication *have* to be so clunky? I'm lucky enough to subscribe to Keir Starmer's Substack. The world economy's torn apart by the war in Iran, he's having to fend off unreasonable demands from Trump, it's going to have all kinds of long-term impacts and... it's on the NHS.

I have seriously exciting news: 🇨🇭Mini Switzerland is funded!! The DfT today announced £6m of funding to deliver a national demonstrator of Swiss-style transport integration in the Hope Valley. Those who follow me will know I've been leading a voluntary team to try to make this happen.

Antisemitism is horrific. A plane crash is dramatic. The Iran war is a catastrophe. But how can the destruction of the ecosystem upon which we all depend only be the SIXTH story?

Filling in the BBC consultation. Loads of questions. But this is just stated. It's a terrible definition. If accountability means always reflecting the public's attitudes, what happens when the public is misinformed? How can this be compatible with a mission to "inform and educate"?

It’s the new Freewheeling Podcast host Katie-Lee English in the Freewheeling Podcast studio at Interchange

Genuinely brilliant!

Cramped into the top bunk of a tiny couchette, my then girlfriend (now wife) are trapped by another family's luggage piled between the berths like a fabric Jenga. It's my History of Europe in 75 Train Journeys; a monthly series concluding on 25 March 2032, the EU's 75th birthday. buff.ly/B0GNctr?

I work in transport so do a lot of work with elected Mayors. I also dictate many of my emails. Can anyone explain to me why Apple INSISTS that I mean Mehr not Mayor. I mean, literally every time. What even is a Mehr?

European Sleeper are more ambitious for my sex life than I am... See highlighted at the end of the email.

The reason the Government can't get onto the front foot is that it doesn't know where it's going. It's not possible to start walking if you don't have a destination. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's 10 years since @nationaltrust.org.uk removed public transport directions from the Handbook. Every year, I hope that (being a conservation charity) they'll change their mind. Sometimes I write to them. And, every year, disappointment. They promote car travel: parking revenues over the planet.

This "conflicting accounts" narrative of the BBC's is a much bigger problem than they seem to think. The huge issue is not false balance - it's that they're NOT reporting the biggest story of today: the fact the US Government is lying about its own forces killing a US citizen.

Why do they do this?! What a week for those of us who are subscribers to his Substack to feel like we are hearing directly from the prime minister! And how many previous PMs would wish they’d had a Substack at times like this. So, let’s get the inside story on this extraordinary drama. Oh.

Paris is getting on and delivering autonomous buses. On the latest podcast, I talk with James Dick of RATP (Paris's transport agency) about the work they're doing. Autonomous public transport has so much more potential for social good than robotaxis! www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...

Coffee looks cheerful this morning

No

Journalists on here, please explain to me the rule that says countries can never “turn to the IMF”, they must *always* “turn, cap in hand, to the IMF”. Is it something you learn on your grad schemes?

I recently referred to Elon Musk as a neo-nazi in a LinkedIn post. You can argue that this is untrue but I don't think it's unreasonable. I was genuinely staggered when it was taken down by LinkedIn for being Hate Speech. It appears that calling out Elon's hate speech is, itself, hate speech.

Passed Buckingham Palace today, and I’ve never been more of a monarchist. Flag is at half mast for the Duchess of Kent. The fact that is for the woman who used to give out the trophies at Wimbledon is a reminder that monarchy being ludicrous and out of touch is precisely the point.

I’ve just arrived at Euston platform 16, which means a view of the Rishi Sunak Big Empty Space This is where they are busy winding down from building a new high speed station, prior to the next task of setting up the building of a new high speed station. I believe this was done to save money