In order to achieve a transition from a transport system centred on the individual car to one centred on (electrified) rail a new focus in infrastructure planning is needed. The preparation of project proposals for the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 on the sub-national level in Germany provides an opportunity to study decision-making processes in ministries and compare their respective results in this respect. Using document analysis, expert interviews, qualitative content analysis as well as QCA, this thesis in political science analyses how decision-making processes within bureaucracies impact the decision output in transport infrastructure planning. It contributes to the discussion on bureaucracy-politics interactions that is relevant beyond the German case. One result is that ministries tend to use complex decision-making processes for topics deemed salient as long as the available capacity permits it. Consequently, in order to conduct legitimacy-enhancing steps – such as public participation – a well-funded bureaucracy is indispensable.

The train derailment at Hatfield in October 2000, which cost four lives, prompted a national rethink about the state of Britain's railways. The crash has been followed by months of near-paralysis on the system, and has put privatization under the spotlight as never before. Off the Rails looks at the disastrous consequences of private ownership for Britain's railway network and makes the case for the restoration of the system to public control. It traces the history of the privatization process from think-tanks to legislation, and how British Rail came to be sold off in a hurry in one hundred different pieces by the Major government, despite public hostility. It looks at the complex structure of the privately-owned rail industry and identifies the main players, showing how they have failed to work in the public interest. It explains the conflicting roles of the various regulators, and adds up money made for shareholders at the taxpayers' expense in an industry which combines public subsidy with private profit. Written by an author deeply involved in the industry, Off the Rails draws extensively on the testimony of those who work on the railways-the train drivers, maintenance workers, signalers, station staff and passengers' representatives. The Hatfield crash was the final straw for the public reputation of the fragmented railway. The run-up to the disaster and the chaos afterward are examined in detail, as are the limitations of the political response from New Labour. Off the Rails is also a call for change. The book looks at how public ownership could be reintroduced and considers other alternatives for renewing the railways. It also draws on experience in other parts of the world to make the case that only the restoration of the railways as a public service can guarantee the safe and reliable service which passengers expect.

In this revelatory narrative covering the years 1967 to 2017, Steven Brill gives us a stunningly cogent picture of the broken system at the heart of our society. He shows us how, over the last half century, America’s core values—meritocracy, innovation, due process, free speech, and even democracy itself—have somehow managed to power its decline into dysfunction. They have isolated our best and brightest, whose positions at the top have never been more secure or more remote. The result has been an erosion of responsibility and accountability, an epidemic of shortsightedness, an increasingly hollow economic and political center, and millions of Americans gripped by apathy and hopelessness. By examining the people and forces behind the rise of big-money lobbying, legal and financial engineering, the demise of private-sector unions, and a hamstrung bureaucracy, Brill answers the question on everyone’s mind: How did we end up this way? Finally, he introduces us to those working quietly and effectively to repair the damages. At once a diagnosis of our national ills, a history of their development, and a prescription for a brighter future, Tailspin is a work of riveting journalism—and a welcome antidote to political despair.

This is the true story of two twenty-year old Australians who travelled for fourteen months on recumbent bicycles from Russia, across Siberia and Mongolia, to Beijing. It is as much a story of perseverance, passion, and belief as it is about the people and remarkable landscapes of Siberia and Mongolia. Tim and Chris are not just fearless adventurers but philosophers on wheels, willing and able to open themselves up to everything from the voice of the Steppes to the Russian villagers and the nomads of the Gobi desert. From this they draw an often funny, moving and inspirational tale of living out a dream. Mixed into this journey is the story of their tumultuous relationship as two opposing wills battle it out in the midst of heat, snow and hunger.

In a rapidly changing world, with increasing competition in all sectors of transportation, railways are in a period of restructuring their management and technology. New methods of organization are introduced, commercial and tariff policies change radically, a more entrepreneurial spirit is required. At the same time, new high-speed tracks are being constructed and old tracks are renewed, high-comfort rolling stock vehicles are being introduced, logistics and combined transport are being developed. Awareness of environmental issues and search for greater safety give to the railways a new role within the transportation system. Meanwhile, methods of analysis have significantly evolved, principally due to computer applications and new ways of thinking and approaching old problems. Therefore it becomes necessary to come up with a new scientific approach to tackle management and engineering aspects of railways, to understand in-depth the origins and inter-relationships of the various situations and phenomena and to suggest the appropriate methods and solutions to solve the various emerging problems. This book aims to cover the need for a new scientific approach for railways. It is written for railway managers, economists and engineers, consulting economists and engineers, students of schools of engineering, transportation and management. The book is divided into three distinct parts: Part A deals with the management of railways, Part B deals with the track and, Part C deals with rolling stock and environmental topics. Each chapter of the book contains the necessary theoretical analysis of the phenomena studied, the recommended solutions, applications, charts and design of the specific railway component. In this way, both the requirement for a theoretical analysis is met, and the need of the railway manager and engineer for tables, nomographs, regulations, etc. is satisfied. Railways in Europe have separated activities of infrastructure from those of operation. In other parts of the world, however, railways remain unified. The book addresses both situation. Railways present great differences in their technologies. Something may be valid for one such technology, but not for another. To overcome this problem, regulations of the International Union of Railways (UIC) as well as European Standardization (CEN) have been used to the greatest extent possible. Whenever a specific technology or method is presented, the limits of its application are clearly emphasized.