Some decisions are like haircuts: easy to change. Others are like tattoos: permanent, visible, hard to undo. Major infrastructure projects fall firmly in the tattoo category.

In a previous post, I advised that for “haircut” projects, we should just get on with it.

But what do we do about “tattoo” projects? That’s what today’s post is about.

Paris is building 200 km of new Metro. That’s more new line than every addition to the tube map since the second world war - including the Jubilee line, DLR and Elizabeth line. It’s going to make Paris the capital of Europe for the 21st century.

London is one of the highest productivity cities in Europe, and has some of the best transport.

Other cities in Britain are some of the lowest productivity, and have the worst transport.

Seems obvious these things are linked... but how to prove it?

Government wants better transport. Is more private capital the answer?