RUTH AYLETT admires the blunt honesty with which a woman’s experience is recorded, but detects the unexamined privilege that underlies it
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The case for the railways
WILL PODMORE welcomes a demonstration of the incomparable virtues of rail travel, and the political obstacles to realising its potential
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IAN SINCLAIR draws attention to the powerful role that literature plays in foreseeing the way humanity will deal with climate crisis
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The Chinese language only introduced a feminine pronoun in the 1920s. Now, it might adopt a gender-inclusive one, suggests JANET DAVEY
How the railways will fix the future: rediscovering the essential brilliance of the iron road
Gareth Dennis, Repeater, £10.99
IN this splendid book, railway engineer Gareth Dennis urges the vital importance of railways. As he argues, public transport does not need inventing. We’ve solved the technology challenges for urban and long-distance transport, just as we have solved the problems of getting clean water and generating electricity.
We have all the skills and tools we need to solve our problems. All we lack is the political will, not the technological capability. He asks, should the railways be nationalised? And answers, yes, absolutely, but adds that this is only the first small step on a much larger journey.
The idea that there can be meaningful competition in a complex network like the railways is bizarre. Railways should not be competing with each other. Their real competition is with road and air.
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