Podcast
#Railnatter
Hosted by Gareth Dennis · EN
The world's leading independent railway podcast. Join award-winning rail engineer Gareth Dennis and many guests talking about all things TRAINS and TRANSPORT. #Railnatter goes out LIVE every Wednesday at 8pm, UK time, with the audio podcast following on all common platforms.
29episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Britain's Suburbs Are Broken, Here's The Solution | #Railnatter 306
Apr 2900:59:17Tap to summarizeThis month, the Foundation for Integrated Transport released its paper on decarbonising suburban transport in Britain. Led by Jonathan Bray, it looks at the key challenges with providing adequate transport options to Britain's suburban communities, it picks out the main lessons we can learn from other cities that are way ahead of the UK on this, and makes a series of recommendations for the UK government.But are they enough? As ever, we'll dig in together to find out.For the wider, time critical, context, we are also joined for a look at the UK's transport decarbonisation plans - or lack thereof - with Professor Greg Marsden of Leeds ITS.Suburbs report here: https://integratedtransport.org.uk/new-report-decarbonising-suburban-transport-ways-of-thinking-and-actingGreg's overshoot report here: https://in-fuze.org.uk/overshoot-report/Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
Transcribe →The Secret to Fixing Britain's Railways | #Railnatter 305
Apr 2200:53:34Tap to summarizeWhat if we've been getting railway upgrades wrong for decades? What if big, grand, finite projects were about the worst way to deliver the change to transport Britain so desperately needs? By looking at what the Transpennine Route Upgrade is delivering in detail, including the latest look at some massive civil engineering, we'll ask ourselves: "What if the secret to modernising a nation’s infrastructure isn't a grand opening ceremony, but a series of tiny, invisible victories?"Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
Transcribe →This cheap fix will SOLVE rural travel | #Railnatter 304
Apr 1500:47:33Tap to summarizeCan the adoption of a Swiss taktfahrplan provide a blueprint for rural and regional transport in Britain? This is the question we'll be asking tonight, as we dig into the plans for the Hope Valley transport integration demonstrator, what £6M is paying for, and whether it can work. We'll also ask: what is a taktfahrplan? Why do these sorts of timetables matter and how would they fix things in the UK? Read the Hope Valley takt report: https://hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk/plans-published-for-mini-switzerland-a-national-demonstrator-to-transform-rural-public-transport/ Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
Transcribe →This cheap fix will SOLVE rural travel | #Railnatter 304
Apr 1500:47:33Tap to summarizeCan the adoption of a Swiss taktfahrplan provide a blueprint for rural and regional transport in Britain?This is the question we'll be asking tonight, as we dig into the plans for the Hope Valley transport integration demonstrator, what £6M is paying for, and whether it can work. We'll also ask: what is a taktfahrplan? Why do these sorts of timetables matter and how would they fix things in the UK?Read the Hope Valley takt report: https://hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk/plans-published-for-mini-switzerland-a-national-demonstrator-to-transform-rural-public-transport/Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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The BILLION POUND flaw on the Elizabeth Line | #Railnatter 303
Apr 800:54:13Tap to summarizeLast week, the Campaign for Level Boarding published its letter to the Old Oak Common project endorsing a non-standard platform height. But what's that about? And how does it link to Crossrail's most expensive and damaging design flaw? Read the full Campaign for Level Boarding letter here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vs7rqv8utn1s9ne3kah36/CampaignForLevelBoarding_LetterRegardingOOC.pdf?rlkey=onqv8b9bk0qcslvn1unthfdwu&dl=1 Watch Philip explain the level boarding solution at OOC in more detail here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KryXjiUycZU Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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This train TRANSFORMED Britain’s railways | #Railnatter 302
Apr 100:58:20Tap to summarizeThis week we are talking about Network Rail's PLPR train - the incredible and now pretty experienced train that put machine learning into practice in a way that makes today's AI boosters look more like hucksters than they already are. Alex Cusdin joins us to talk through the train and its tech, and tell the story of how it came into being. Capturing an incredible 18TB of data a day, this train captures 70,000 photos a second to enable a very high resolution view of the track to automate and improve inspection, in the process making railways safer. This is an example, now well proven, of how technologies can be applied to make better use of skilled people, rather than displacing them. And it's about to be replaced. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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Talking GBR, cost of living and Iran with TSSA’s Maryam Eslamdoust | #Railnatter 301
Mar 2500:53:43Tap to summarizeIn the first of a series of chats with political leaders who are shaping the mobility landscape in the UK, I was delighted to spend a long lunch with Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the TSSA. We talked about a range of subjects including union saturation into the consultancy world, the Iran war and its impacts on the cost of living, rail reform and GBR, as well as her current campaign on violence against transport workers. Join our chat in the TSSA office and on a multi-train adventure in East London - with extra bits to follow in the bonus. Head to Michael's @NetworkNewsUK for more on Liverpool Street station. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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Transport in Leeds isn't working | #Railnatter 300
Mar 1801:18:33Tap to summarize10 hours, 22 locations and about 100 miles (probably) of travel later, and we've got a real feast of an episode to mark our 300th... Tonight, we rate ALL OF LEEDS for mobility using our patented science-based system: the PROCIV system. In doing so, we will consider the West Yorkshire mass transit plans and whether they are prioritising the right solutions. We'll also drop a few bombshells, not least a reminder how much was spent on a pointless new bypass for part of Leeds in 2025! Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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Can we end Britain's boom and bust problem? | #Railnatter 299
Mar 1100:58:26Tap to summarizeBack at the start of February, the UK's Transport Select Committee published its report into rail investment pipelines and how to end the boom and bust cycle that double prices and delays improvements... But is the report any good? Does it propose any useful solutions? Will government have any interest in doing anything it suggests? It's a classic page-turn, and you can grab the report yourself, here: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8739/rail-investment-pipelines-ending-boom-and-bust/publications/ Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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What links Speed, Warriors and Roger Rabbit? | #Railnatter 298
Mar 401:08:53Tap to summarizeAre there three movies that better define US transit culture better than Speed (1994), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and The Warriors (1979)? Probably not, if our guest this week is to be believed! Because who could be better to guide us on this silver screen odyssey than Josh Boerman, co-host of @TheWorstOfAllPossibleWorlds and @IllConceived ? Nobody, that's who! Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways
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