#Railnatter

Latest Episodes:

#Railnatter Episode 193: An illustrated history of Jersey’s tram and railways Nov 22, 2023

Show notes

This week, friend of the show Zach joins us to talk about the tramways and railways of Jersey, what they looked like at their zenith and what became of them... We'll even have a stab at reckoning if there's a good case for bringing them back!

Join LIVE at 8pm on Wednesday!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at / garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 192: A page-turn through the Salisbury rail crash report Nov 15, 2023

Show notes

Two years ago, two Class 158 trains crashed into each other at Salisbury Tunnel Junction following an extreme storm.

This week, we'll read through the recently published RAIB report to understand what happened and why - vegetation management and low adhesion will be big themes...

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 191: It’s forty years since the UK built its first high speed line Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

On the 3rd October 1983, the UK's first modern high speed line was fully opened between Doncaster and York...

Chris Valkoinen from the @NatRailwayMuseum contacted us to say he'd found a pile of technical drawings relating to the Selby Diversion and suggested we take a look - so that's precisely what this #Railnatter shall do in celebration of this momentous occasion!

#Railnatter Episode 190: Thirty years of privatisation and what should happen next Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

On the 5th November 1993 (remember, remember, etc) the Railways Act 1993 received royal assent, and the wheels were truly set in motion for the atomisation of British Rail... An event that would lead us right into the mess we have today.

To "celebrate" its 30th anniversary, I thought we'd have split tonight's show into two parts. The first will be a page-turn of the dismal white paper (New Opportunities For The Railways) co-authored by the @adamsmithinstitute and @hmtreasuryuk that gave us the industry structure we have today. The second will be a discussion of how we unpick the mess and how the next government should prioritise its fixing of Britain's railways.

Join LIVE on Weds at the new slot of 8pm!

#Railnatter Episode 189: What the heck else has been happening?! (it’s a news ep!) Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

It's been ages since we've properly caught up with the news, so here's a massive run through of everything that has caught my eye since before I disappeared off on parental leave...

We'll be talking HS2 (again), Headbolt Lane, the Plan For Drivers, digging up the M8 in Glasgow, electric Class 08 shunters, Superloop, HS2, Station Hall, Harper's Tin Foil Hat and the imminent doom currently hanging over all of us.

Join the fun, LIVE on Weds at the new (possibly temporary) slot of 8pm - that's EIGHT O'CLOCK UK TIME!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#RailNatter Episode 188: Why is UK infrastructure so slow and costly to build? Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

In what will certainly not be the only episode we do on the title subject, I wanted to chew through the research done by Sam Dumitriu and Ben Hopkinson not too long ago... They looked at project costs, trying (and failing, in my view) to get to the bottom of why things cost so much more to deliver in the UK.

I'll pick through their report and explain why their suggestion that cost is why nothing gets done in the UK is pretty far off the mark, and is at minimum a case of the tail wagging the dog, hypothesis-wise.

Sam and Ben's blog on the subject: https://www.samdumitriu.com/p/britains-infrastructure-is-too-expensive

#RailNatter Episode 187: HS2 has been cancelled, so what happens next? (a Q&A) Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

Well, as predicted by me in 2018, and then essentially confirmed as inevitable two years ago on release of the Integrated Rail Plan, this Conservative government of Hunt, Sunak and Harper have cancelled HS2, leaving the most expensive section between London and Birmingham as a rump to be picked at by Treasury vampires until it is impossible to deliver the full scheme.

There's so much to talk about, so rather than going though anything in a structured way, let's make this an open Q&A like our first episode many moons ago... It's the first PROPER LIVE one in a long while, so tune in and let's go!

#RailNatter Episode 186: Putting geofencing to good use to improve track safety Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

We are joined by the founder and CEO of Tended, Leo Scott Smith, to talk about how you turn an idea into a solution that can save lives... And we'll talk a bit about how the railway forms the perfect filter to sort pointless from purposeful tech.

Geofencing is used pretty widely these days, but protecting staff on track is a particularly tricky and critical application - and this is where Tended come in. Join LIVE at 7pm on Wednesday!

#RailNatter Episode 185: Why the UK aviation industry is in steep decline Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

In what might prove to be another cornerstone episode of #RailNatter, Dr Alex Chapman from @theneweconomics discusses his research into the economic benefits of the aviation industry to the UK... Or rather the fact that there aren't any.

Seriously - this is fascinating stuff and lays bare the ideology behind the disproportionate subsidy of the airline industry in the UK and further afield... All while rail continues to have funding cut in real terms. Not to be missed!

#RailNatter Episode 184: A Wander Around Wonderlab (the NRM’s new gallery) Sep 22, 2023

Show notes

Join @MrTimDunn and me as we dash around the @NatRailwayMuseum's new gallery - Wonderlab - in the only way we both know how... Chaotically! We have the most tremendous fun whizzing around what I think is likely to be my second favourite space in the NRM after the warehouse/North Shed, BECAUSE THIS SPACE IS SO GOOD (particularly for me as an infrastructure person)!

Want to know what it is all about? Well, we show you almost everything we can in the space of an hour, with an interview with Wonerlab's brilliant lead interactive curator Rose Mockford and genius Leeds-based artist Pippa Hale thrown in for some nice context. If ever there was a way to physically explore the inside of my head, this is it.

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