Thomas Ableman
@freewheeling.info
🚇 Was Strategy & Innovation Director Transport for London
🖊️ Freewheeling Blog / Podcast www.freewheeling.info/blog
SUBSTACK: Freewheeling Bitesize: https://freewheelingbitesize.substack.com/ & History of Europe in 75 Railway Journeys http://bit.ly/3EQNOPA
🖊️ Freewheeling Blog / Podcast www.freewheeling.info/blog
SUBSTACK: Freewheeling Bitesize: https://freewheelingbitesize.substack.com/ & History of Europe in 75 Railway Journeys http://bit.ly/3EQNOPA
Pinned
Thomas Ableman
@freewheeling.info
· May 4
Welcome to A HISTORY OF EUROPE IN 75 RAILWAY JOURNEYS
Riding the rails through 1,000 years of European history
open.substack.com
My happy place is the compartment of a European train, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a history book in the other.
Hence a Substack exploring European history based on my travels.
Each month the story of a different period through the prism of a ride.
open.substack.com/pub/historyo...
Hence a Substack exploring European history based on my travels.
Each month the story of a different period through the prism of a ride.
open.substack.com/pub/historyo...
There are so many news stories this could be a response to.
Every day
Every day
January 15, 2026 at 4:43 PM
There are so many news stories this could be a response to.
Every day
Every day
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
I think it should be notes that the hero voter strategy Labour adopted broadly failed - and hss massively failed since the election.
The majority was powered, across almost all seats, by younger, progressive voters.
Winning the election obsured that the approach *didn't work'
The majority was powered, across almost all seats, by younger, progressive voters.
Winning the election obsured that the approach *didn't work'
January 15, 2026 at 9:30 AM
I think it should be notes that the hero voter strategy Labour adopted broadly failed - and hss massively failed since the election.
The majority was powered, across almost all seats, by younger, progressive voters.
Winning the election obsured that the approach *didn't work'
The majority was powered, across almost all seats, by younger, progressive voters.
Winning the election obsured that the approach *didn't work'
To say the opposite is to say that it's impossible for the Tories to recover. That's patently untrue: they recovered from 1997 which was - arguably - worse, given the popularity of the Govt.
January 15, 2026 at 1:37 PM
To say the opposite is to say that it's impossible for the Tories to recover. That's patently untrue: they recovered from 1997 which was - arguably - worse, given the popularity of the Govt.
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
Sums up how rubbish Badenoch is that she has been forced into a “You’re dumping me? I’m dumping you!” rather than just sacking and disbarring Jenrick over the many, many things that would have kept him out of any Tory Cabinet since 1968.
January 15, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Sums up how rubbish Badenoch is that she has been forced into a “You’re dumping me? I’m dumping you!” rather than just sacking and disbarring Jenrick over the many, many things that would have kept him out of any Tory Cabinet since 1968.
Agreed entirely! @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social is one of the few journos at a national paper that really focuses on transport and understands it in depth. Let's celebrate that!
January 15, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Agreed entirely! @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social is one of the few journos at a national paper that really focuses on transport and understands it in depth. Let's celebrate that!
Excellent thread from @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social on NPR.
Thought I’d do a mega hread on NPR, partly because I’ve seen some London based commentary that doesn’t really get the bigger picture quite right imho
January 15, 2026 at 9:40 AM
Excellent thread from @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social on NPR.
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
Different domain, but so many similarities between public engagement in transport/planning and health; and how we need to move away from traditional consultations.
Fascinating insights from
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social.
Fascinating insights from
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social.
Traditional consultations don’t work. They result in fearful officers bombarded with feedback from a hyper-engaged minority, while the typical resident is unaware that engagement is even taking place.
Is there a better way?
Yes!
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social
www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Is there a better way?
Yes!
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social
www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Community Engagement with Jasmine Palardy — Freewheeling
How do we take the public with us? Actually, is that the right question? Surely, we should be asking what the public want? And what the public doesn’t yet know it wants. Our traditional models of co...
www.freewheeling.info
January 14, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Different domain, but so many similarities between public engagement in transport/planning and health; and how we need to move away from traditional consultations.
Fascinating insights from
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social.
Fascinating insights from
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social.
Traditional consultations don’t work. They result in fearful officers bombarded with feedback from a hyper-engaged minority, while the typical resident is unaware that engagement is even taking place.
Is there a better way?
Yes!
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social
www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Is there a better way?
Yes!
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social
www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Community Engagement with Jasmine Palardy — Freewheeling
How do we take the public with us? Actually, is that the right question? Surely, we should be asking what the public want? And what the public doesn’t yet know it wants. Our traditional models of co...
www.freewheeling.info
January 14, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Traditional consultations don’t work. They result in fearful officers bombarded with feedback from a hyper-engaged minority, while the typical resident is unaware that engagement is even taking place.
Is there a better way?
Yes!
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social
www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Is there a better way?
Yes!
@jasminepalardy.bsky.social
www.freewheeling.info/the-freewhee...
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
When the interior ministry declares its militia to be above the law in terms that equate dissent with treason there really isn’t any question of whether or not we are looking at an authoritarian regime.
January 14, 2026 at 4:05 PM
When the interior ministry declares its militia to be above the law in terms that equate dissent with treason there really isn’t any question of whether or not we are looking at an authoritarian regime.
Is this genuine? Did it definitely actually happen?
January 14, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Is this genuine? Did it definitely actually happen?
The other problem with constant one off assessment is that it is likely to be wrong. Whereas treating projects like portfolios means you pool risk.
January 14, 2026 at 1:20 PM
The other problem with constant one off assessment is that it is likely to be wrong. Whereas treating projects like portfolios means you pool risk.
I love the term “continuity of capability”.
Here is my other favourite example:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/what-ar...
Here is my other favourite example:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/what-ar...
What are the French up to? Part 2 — Freewheeling
The French have a plan to transform regional connectivity in 24 provincial cities. Of course they have…
www.freewheeling.info
January 14, 2026 at 1:19 PM
I love the term “continuity of capability”.
Here is my other favourite example:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/what-ar...
Here is my other favourite example:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/what-ar...
Exactly the right question!
January 14, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Exactly the right question!
My most popular blog post of last year (I write weekly) explored the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it.
You get very different outcomes!
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
You get very different outcomes!
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
This is how the Swiss would have done HS2 — Freewheeling
HS2 has become a case study in how not to build infrastructure. But what if we’d taken a different path entirely? In this post, I imagine how the Swiss would have done it: starting with the timetabl...
www.freewheeling.info
January 14, 2026 at 9:07 AM
My most popular blog post of last year (I write weekly) explored the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it.
You get very different outcomes!
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
You get very different outcomes!
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
Invincibility trains. Wow.
No power or water and -19C: Kyiv seeks relief from Russian strikes and cold www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No power or water and -19C: Kyiv seeks relief from Russian strikes and cold www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No power or water and -19C: Kyiv seeks relief from Russian strikes and cold
Residents of Ukraine's capital talk about their difficulties keeping warm and enduring power outages, as Russian attacks deepen the energy crisis.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 14, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Invincibility trains. Wow.
No power or water and -19C: Kyiv seeks relief from Russian strikes and cold www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No power or water and -19C: Kyiv seeks relief from Russian strikes and cold www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
🚨🚨Excellent news (and hope more will follow): Sport England has revealed that it has suspended its account on #X, because the social media platform “increasingly promotes and monetises an environment that is hostile to women and girls”. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/j...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/j...
Sport England suspends X social media account and takes aim at Elon Musk
Sport England has revealed that it has suspended its account on the social media platform X
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:04 PM
🚨🚨Excellent news (and hope more will follow): Sport England has revealed that it has suspended its account on #X, because the social media platform “increasingly promotes and monetises an environment that is hostile to women and girls”. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/j...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/j...
The article focuses too much on the build and contracting. The root causes are how it was planned and funded.
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
This is how the Swiss would have done HS2 — Freewheeling
HS2 has become a case study in how not to build infrastructure. But what if we’d taken a different path entirely? In this post, I imagine how the Swiss would have done it: starting with the timetabl...
www.freewheeling.info
January 13, 2026 at 8:46 PM
The article focuses too much on the build and contracting. The root causes are how it was planned and funded.
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
Unfortunately, only “after NPR”, which means 30 years of HS2 not actually being useful.
January 13, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Unfortunately, only “after NPR”, which means 30 years of HS2 not actually being useful.
It is fascinating, but it focuses too much on the build and contracting. The root causes are how it was planned and funded.
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
This is how the Swiss would have done HS2 — Freewheeling
HS2 has become a case study in how not to build infrastructure. But what if we’d taken a different path entirely? In this post, I imagine how the Swiss would have done it: starting with the timetabl...
www.freewheeling.info
January 13, 2026 at 8:41 PM
It is fascinating, but it focuses too much on the build and contracting. The root causes are how it was planned and funded.
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
My most popular blog post of last year (I wrote weekly) explored this, using the thought experiment of how the Swiss would have done it:
www.freewheeling.info/blog/swiss-hs2
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
"It's an impossible situation. One could not possibly replace Keir Starmer with a better communicator or someone who has a sense of direction the Cabinet could follow" is a fascinating piece of learned helplessness.
January 13, 2026 at 12:31 PM
"It's an impossible situation. One could not possibly replace Keir Starmer with a better communicator or someone who has a sense of direction the Cabinet could follow" is a fascinating piece of learned helplessness.
This is tragically on the money
If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...
January 12, 2026 at 5:30 PM
This is tragically on the money
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...
January 7, 2026 at 9:49 AM
If the UK government had a Culture Secretary, that person would be in a position to take a view about whether child porn on demand was a good thing, or a bad thing. thecritic.co.uk/brin...
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
Private citizen joins political party is the top story on the BBC News website? Free advertising for Reform. Nadhim Zahawi was Chancellor for two months under Boris Johnson and was later sacked by Sunak as Tory chairman after three months over his tax affairs.
January 12, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Private citizen joins political party is the top story on the BBC News website? Free advertising for Reform. Nadhim Zahawi was Chancellor for two months under Boris Johnson and was later sacked by Sunak as Tory chairman after three months over his tax affairs.
Reposted by Thomas Ableman
Nadhim Zahawi was made Chancellor by Boris Johnson, only to call for a new leader a day later.
He backed Liz Truss as PM, before being appointed Tory Chair by Rishi Sunak, only to be sacked over his tax affairs.
His defection to Reform UK is another step in an eventful political career.
He backed Liz Truss as PM, before being appointed Tory Chair by Rishi Sunak, only to be sacked over his tax affairs.
His defection to Reform UK is another step in an eventful political career.
January 12, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Nadhim Zahawi was made Chancellor by Boris Johnson, only to call for a new leader a day later.
He backed Liz Truss as PM, before being appointed Tory Chair by Rishi Sunak, only to be sacked over his tax affairs.
His defection to Reform UK is another step in an eventful political career.
He backed Liz Truss as PM, before being appointed Tory Chair by Rishi Sunak, only to be sacked over his tax affairs.
His defection to Reform UK is another step in an eventful political career.