A woman walks past advertising hoarding for the HS2 high-speed rail link in Birmingham, England on Wednesday. The project, originally announced in 2009, is behind schedule and over budget. EPA
A woman walks past advertising hoarding for the HS2 high-speed rail link in Birmingham, England on Wednesday. The project, originally announced in 2009, is behind schedule and over budget. EPA
A woman walks past advertising hoarding for the HS2 high-speed rail link in Birmingham, England on Wednesday. The project, originally announced in 2009, is behind schedule and over budget. EPA
Shelina Janmohamed is an author and a culture columnist for The National
September 28, 2023
“The railways!” is one of the first answers given when the topic of the British Empire comes up and people ask, what did the British do for the world?
There is a wild irony – some might say hilarity – to the claim that railways were bestowed on India, and to a lesser extent East Africa, as a symbol of Britain’s greatness and benevolence. Nowhere is this more evident than in current events in the UK as the country teeters from one rail-related problem to another.
In 2009, a high-speed rail project called HS2 was announced. This would establish modern rail infrastructure in the north of England and rejuvenate several regions. Its total length was to be built in two parts: 255 kilometres from London to Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city, with a further network of 530 kilometres beyond that. It was costed at £37.5 billion ($39.5 billion). Fourteen years later, however, approximately £40 billion has been spent, the project now has a total cost estimate of £100 billion and, so far, no track has been laid. The British government even announced this week that its HS2 plans could be severely cut back or even cancelled.
A steam train in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1983. Britain's colonial-era rail network was built with Indian labour and served to export resources out of the country for the empire. Steve McCurry
If the Indian railways were a symbol of Britain’s greatness, then why is it that we can’t apply the same greatness here at “home”?
Perhaps it is because the story of Britain’s prowess in delivering railways to India is really a story about Indian labour, investment and railway management. It was Indians who actually built the railways. In fact, they did such a good job of it, when the British occupied East Africa, guess who they brought to build the railways… yes, the Indians.
It was also the Indians who took the financial investment and risk. The British who invested in the railways made huge profits because the government guaranteed double returns – which would be paid from Indian taxes.
The railways were never contrived as a benefit for the people – instead it was all about making profits. The Indian railways were actually the idea of the East India Company, and Governor-General Lord Hardinge argued that they would be beneficial to the “commerce, government and military control of the country”. Yes, that’s right: the trains were there to take resources out of the interior as quickly and cheaply as possible, and move the British military around to maintain control. The Indians that were moved around were in shoddy third-class accommodation. Talk to a British rail commuter today and they might say they have some resonance with how that feels.
That analysis of how the Indian railways came to be sheds a great deal of light on why railways are so challenging in the UK. It is a bitter pill to swallow but perhaps not as bitter as the other possible analysis: the fact that such grand rail projects linger uncompleted in Britain itself is a sign of a great power now in apparent decline.
I’ll be accused of doing Britain down ... but it is an act of love to address self-delusion, especially when it is so harmful to our current domestic state
The likelihood is that by saying this I’ll be accused of doing Britain down. That’s the generic, knee-jerk reaction to anyone trying to understand what happened and why, and trying to assess how the country is seen by others. As someone of Asian heritage, this backlash is also likely to include accusations of being “ungrateful” for what Britain has bestowed upon me. This itself is rather ironic since my ancestors were likely contributors to the wealth and power the country has enjoyed. So why do I need to be grateful?
It is an act of love to address self-delusion, especially when it is so harmful to our current domestic state, and particularly when it harms our present and future international stature.
In Britain, we need to better understand ourselves. There are lots of reasons for doing so, including honesty, self-awareness, domestic equality, racism and so on. But harnessing the DNA of success for the future is also among them. While many would argue that Britain’s past success and current wealth are based on exploitation and violence, I think it is reasonable to say that there was and continues to be a talent for innovation and production. The question now is how to achieve the success without the exploitation. How do we do this while recognising how international collaboration, talents and resources were fundamental to this?
Being fit for a world that has changed is why we must see how others perceive us – including hearing their experiences of being colonised. Otherwise, how do we make ourselves fit for purpose in this wildly different era? This is no longer the era of Pax Britannica. This is no longer the era of European powers being able to carve up the world on their own whims. There are other states who now wield as much if not more power. This is not to mention the power of corporations – always a love-hate relationship for the British and other empires – that operate in a transnational and almost invisible way that governments simply do not understand.
There is a bittersweet irony to the fact that railways, which used to symbolise the gift of imperial Britain’s “benevolence”, now expose the false narratives of domination and legacy. The optimist in me hopes that this latest rail crisis can instead become a moment when the country looks honestly at itself, about how we really came to be what we are today, and how we plot our course for international success in the future.
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
June 10: Crusaders 3 Lions 12
June 13: Highlanders 23 Lions 22
June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34 June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15
June 27: Hurricanes 31 Lions 31 July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24 July 8: New Zealand v Lions
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
Option 2: 50% across three years
Option 3: 30% across five years
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993 Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE Marital Status: Single School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University Job Title: Pilot, First Officer Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200 Number of flights: Approximately 300 Hobbies: Exercising Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
