#Railnatter

Latest Episodes:

#RailNatter Episode 33: Would a fixed link to Northern Ireland work? Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

In Episode 33 of #RailNatter, we are looking at what a fixed link to the island of Ireland (via Northern Ireland) might look like…

Should it be high speed? Are either a bridge or a tunnel possible? Should it link from Wales, England or Scotland? How much might it cost? Given that Boris Johnson likes the idea, is the whole thing completely nonsensical from an engineering perspective?

Join me LIVE for a chat all about it… But a warning: we may raise more questions than answers!

#RailNatter Episode 32: The Island of Tube Trains Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

This week (or rather, a month ago as this is a pre-record), railway writer Richard Long is joining us to talk about the mysterious Island of Tube Trains, or the Isle of Wight as it is generally written on the map.

This will be a #RailNatter full of tales of little engines, gauge clearance and a second chance for many a former metro train…

Buy Richard’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01DS2I7H4
Or here if you want to avoid Amazon: https://iwsr-store.solent.co/product/…
Find Richard on FB here: https://www.facebook.com/rclongauthor

#RailNatter Episode 31: Is level boarding on trains really that hard to achieve? Oct 23, 2020

Show notes

This week’s #RailNatter aims to get to the root of an issue incredibly close to my heart, and something we as an industry do a very bad job of: actually letting everyone get on our trains.

In Episode 31, we’ll be looking at the issue of level boarding: what do I mean by this, why is it an issue, and is it as hard to achieve as lots of people say it is? I’ll also look at why an industry in the 2020s still thinks it is okay to exclude huge numbers of people from using trains like everyone else.

Join us LIVE to ask all of your level boarding questions… This won’t be the last episode on this subject, either.

#RailNatter Episode 30: Skills gap? What skills gap? (#RailWeek special with Harriet Glen) Oct 07, 2020

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It is #RailWeek! Which means we are having a special Rail Week-themed #RailNatter!

In Episode 30, we'll be joined by brilliant transport planner Harriet Glen for a live, hour-long ASK US ANYTHING session! Interested in a career in the railways? This is the Q&A for you!

We'll be setting out to answer the following questions... What is the skills gap and how bad is it? Why do we have a skills gap? How can we look to address the skills gap?

As promised, here are some links to help with...

FINDING RAIL JOBS: https://www.railwaypeople.com/

https://www.morson.com/disciplines/ra...

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-...

OUTREACH:

https://stemettes.org/

https://www.thegirlsnetwork.org.uk/

https://www.wes.org.uk/content/educat...

RESEARCH:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/seeing-be...

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

#RailNatter Episode 29: A hundred* ways for railway rails to fail Sep 30, 2020

Show notes

In this week's #RailNatter, I'm talking about all of the ways in which railway rails - yes, just the rails themselves - give up and stop holding trains up in the air.

What's a squat? Fatigue got you down? Want to crack gauge corner cracking? Well, this is the episode for you...

Join LIVE to ask your questions and I'll do my best to respond!

*we won't be covering one hundred failure modes

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

#RailNatter Episode 28: Quails on Rails (with Dr David Turner) Sep 23, 2020

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The venerable Dr David Turner is back on the show! In Episode 28 of #RailNatter, we'll be turning our attention to the humble quail...

Why? Well, because it allows us to explore the shape and development of supply chains on the British railway network through time, including thinking about how they operate now. It also lets us look at wider international supply chains, and how for a long time freight across the globe moved through Britain (for better or worse). But most of all, because an episode on quails is what all of us need at this point.

Join us LIVE for the usual japes, and bring along something to drink!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

#RailNatter Episode 27: The Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy (phew) Sep 16, 2020

Show notes

In a change to the announced schedule, Episode 27 of #RailNatter is going to be a marathon page turn of Network Rail's freshly published Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy - a.k.a. The Electrification Map Report!

Join us LIVE as we flick through all 257 pages, check out all of the areas that AREN'T proposed for wiring and consider how realistic it is that Britain might finally get the rolling programme of electrification that was first mooted over a hundred years ago.

Download the report: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-cont...

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

#RailNatter Episode 26: How do sleeper trains work? (with Edward Schofield) Sep 09, 2020

Show notes

We're finding out how sleeper trains work in this week's #RailNatter... And Edward Schofield (@CapotrenoEd on Twitter) shall be our guide!

You've been asking for this one - and it is a subject I'm looking forward to learning a lot about... Join us LIVE to ask your questions!

Ed's blog: https://railguideeurope.com/night-tra...

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/5CPAC8W

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

#RailNatter Episode 25: The Engineer‘s Guide To Being A Good Crayonista Sep 02, 2020

Show notes

Well here we go - it is finally time for a #RailNatter with interactive railway creation... In Episode 25, I'll be providing you with the tools you need to make your crayon railways as realistic as possible!

I'll show you how to dodge towns, make use of existing alignments and skip your way between ancient woodlands as we look over a few examples of railways that I've already fiddled with...

Join the natter LIVE to see a railway appear in real time, to have your say over how it looks, and to ask any burning questions you might have!

Mike Spencer's postcode map: https://mikerspencer.carto.com/viz/c7...

PRE toolbox: permanentrail.co.uk/toolbox

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

#RailNatter Episode 24: Is road pricing the future? (with Edward Leigh) Aug 26, 2020

Show notes

We've talked about it before, but what is road pricing and is it the future for managing road traffic? Well, this is what Edward Leigh (leader of Smarter Cambridge Transport) and I will be talking about in Episode 24 of #RailNatter!

With electric vehicles being the future of road transport, income from fuel duty will start rapidly decreasing. At the same time, road users need to be rewarded for reducing their miles and for driving sensible vehicles. Can road pricing achieve this?

Join us LIVE to find out and ask all your questions!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting me at patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via paypal.me/garethdennis.

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