FOLLOWING their previous books‘Disconnected’and ‘Holding the Line’(which dealt with railway closures and reopenings respectively), ‘Signals Passed At Danger’by Richard Faulkner (Labour Peer Lord Faulkner of Worcester) and Christopher Austin (former British Rail parliamentary affairs manager) draws on research and first-hand experience of the authors, leaving no aspect uncovered of the relationship between Government and the railways over the last 180 years.
Even what constitutes a‘defining moment’can sometimes be open to debate, but their arguments are clearly explained and evidenced over the course of 12 chapters and several appendices.
Their analysis ranges from parliamentary scrutiny of leading Victorian railway engineers and the role of politicians in early 20th century industrial relations, to the‘Big Four’Grouping and onwards, covering Nationalisation, Privatisation and, as a‘stop press’, the current pressure on the industry to deliver savings.
There were a couple of typographical errors in the version of the book I reviewed. One was a duplication within text on the rear cover, the other a reference, at the beginning of Chapter 3, to George rather than Robert Stephenson becoming an MP. Although these can easily be corrected for future editions, it did take the edge off what is an otherwise very impressive book.