Christian Wolmar
Christian Tage Forter Wolmar (born 1949) is a British journalist, author, politician and railway historian of Swedish and Russian descent. He is best known for his books and commentary on transport, especially as a pundit on Britain's railway industry, and was named Transport Journalist of the Year in the National Transport Awards in 2007. He is also an advocate for cycling as a means of transport.Following his graduation from Warwick University in 1971, Wolmar worked for Marketing, Retail Newsagent, the New Statesman, and the London Daily News. He was formerly on the staff of The Independent (1989–97) and their transport correspondent for four years from 1992, covering the Privatisation of British Rail by the Major government. He has also contributed to The Observer.Wolmar's books and columns mainly analyse the current state of the British railway industry. He has become known as one of the most vociferous media critics of rail privatisation, in terms of the upheaval which was caused following the Hatfield train crash, the current structure of the industry and the cost to taxpayers.His railway history books include The Subterranean Railway: a history of the London Underground, published in 2005, and Fire and Steam, the first major new history of the railways in Britain for 30 years. Most recently, Blood, Iron and Gold, a history of how the railways changed the world, was published in October 2009, Engines Of War, on how the railways transformed modern warfare was published in late 2010. The Great Railway Revolution on the history of the US railroads was published in 2012 and To the edge of the World, a history of the Transsiberian railway, was published 2013. All have attracted many favourable reviews. He continues to produce regular columns for RAIL magazine and several other magazines.Wolmar is a frequent speaker and moderator at conferences including events in Australia, South Korea, America, Russia and numerous European countries.He 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. Wolmar is a keen cricketer and distance runner, and plays tennis. He is a diehard football fan, having supported Queens Park Rangers for over 50 years.He is known to be against the construction of HS2, a planned high-speed railway between London and Birmingham and further points north.In September 2012, Wolmar announced his intention to seek nomination for the Labour candidacy at the 2016 Mayor of London elections.
