#Railnatter

Latest Episodes:

#RailNatter Episode 143: Amtrak Joe Lets The Side Down (and other tales of woe) Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

Well, he only went and did it. The USA's "most labor friendly president" has just used executive legislation to break a strike and ensure rail workers continue to be horrendously exploited until they just leave the industry.

There's also a lot of other stuff going on, some good, some bad. We'll see what the new Secretary of State for Transport (Mark Harper) is all about. We'll also see how easily buses could be made free in the UK.

Watch the @BadFaithPodcast episode I refer to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyaCB...

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

#RailNatter Episode 142: Where The North Needs Wires (a guide to Northern electrification) Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

This week, #RailNatter is joined by returning champion Simon Kendler to talk all things electrification... Where should wires go? When should they go up?

Having put a lot of work behind the scenes into RIA North's new Greener Faster Better report, Simon will talk us through what the process was, and we'll talk wider rail policy given everything else that's going on. We'll try and keep this one optimistic!

Find Simon's thread here: https://twitter.com/SimonZev/status/1...

Download the report here: https://www.riagb.org.uk/RIA/Newsroom...

#RailNatter Episode 141: The Big Budget Meltdown (and what’s next for the UK) Nov 23, 2022

Show notes

The UK has had another budget - it may, on the face of it, have seemed like a return to the boring nothingness of pre-Boris times, but it actually means increased cuts, reductions in investment, and more overall malaise with zero vision for the future.

What does it mean for transport specifically? This week's #RailNatter will pick through the Autumn Statement to see if there's anything to be optimistic about.

#RailNatter Episode 140: The permanence of the permanent way and why people prefer trams to buses Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

This week's #RailNatter sees returning champion Dr Kevin Tennent help us tackle one of the big questions in the transport world... Why do people prefer trams (real ones) to buses? Why does fixed infrastructure drive greater modal shift than vehicles on roads only?

We'll look at why a "permanent way" is important (and also what it is), but also why it isn't the only variable that gets people out of cars and onto public transport.

#RailNatter Episode 139: How to fix Britain’s broken railways Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

This week's #RailNatter sees the return of GUESTS (now the technology is mostly fixed)...

We've the pleasure of Tom Haines-Doran's company, talking about his new book "Derailed: How to Fix Britain's Broken Railways" - given the state of the railways, somewhat relevant I'd say! We'll be touching on worker rights, the state of management, fares, money and what on earth the railways are actually for... Not to be missed!

Buy Tom's book here: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Tom-Ha...

#RailNatter Episode 138: That time an HST derailed TWICE in Dalwhinnie (a page-turn) Nov 02, 2022

Show notes

RAIB recently published their report into the derailment of an High Speed Train at Dalwhinnie on the Highland Main Line... Thankfully this happened at low speed, but only by luck.

This week's #RailNatter digs into the report and sees what we can learn, and whether industry is likely to repeat this calamity again.

#RailNatter Episode 137: Taking the train from York to Mansfield (only to drive back again) Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

I'm off on US shenanigans right now, so here's a very strange #RailNatter where I meander from York to Mansfield on the train, then drive back again.

Why on earth did I do this? You'll have to watch (if you care)... But we'll be covering HS2's eastern leg (again), suburban services, electric cars, Rail Alphabet 2, the Jacobean Style and Robin Hood. A feast, or chaos. Probably both.

#RailNatter Episode 136: A look at (probably) all of Britain’s moveable railway bridges Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

This week's #RailNatter is talking swing bridges, bascule bridges, sliding bridges... Because we're attempting to provide an exhaustive list of Britain's moveable railway bridges that are (a) still in use and (b) largely in the same form as it was when it functioned, even if it has been welded shut.

How many are there? Will I miss any? It's anyone's guess... Join LIVE to find out!

Watch @Network Rail 's terrific little video on the Goole (Skelton) Swing Bridge here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzeTidU0INA

#RailNatter Episode 135: What happened when cracks grounded the Hitachi UK fleet? Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

This week, #RailNatter is dipping into what already feels like ancient history... The Hitachi UK train fleet was grounded by cracking over a year ago, resulting in widespread disruption and the withdrawal of large numbers of trains across the country.

The @Office of Rail and Road undertook an investigation into the causes and the required actions - and the report they subsequently published is what we are going to dig into together...

#RailNatter Episode 134: What might/should UK Labour’s ”nationalised” railway look like? Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

We're back in the studio for this week's episode, and not a moment too soon... The UK @Labour Party has formally announced that it is retaining its policy of railway nationalisation, which begs a number of questions, first of which has to be "what does this mean?" - so #RailNatter is going to see what Labour might mean, and what they should mean, by rail nationalisation.

There'll be a bit of other news to catch up on as well.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected