Green Signals

Behind the scenes at Hitachi Rail’s Newton Aycliffe train building facility, where we find out about the process and skills required to build trains… and discuss why it’s absolutely vital that the Newton Aycliffe factory is saved. We also speak to the Rt Hon Justine Greening about the work of the Purpose Coalition. Keeping with Hitachi Rail… Avanti West Coast’s new Evero train fleet launches! Nige...

HS2 Phase 2 to Manchester may have been cancelled but the problems have only begun. How to deal with the 54 brand new Alstom / Hitachi trains on order? What about fewer seats being available on Britain’s most valuable route, London – Manchester? And then there’s Euston station – what on earth do we build now? Chris Gibb, a senior figure in the railway industry previously a director of Virgin Cross...

Hitachi’s new battery Class 802 train trial. We take an exclusive behind the scenes look at this ground breaking new collaboration between Hitachi, TransPennine Express and Angel Trains direct from Newton Aycliffe. Rishi Sunak fires the starting gun on a General Election. Are the railways about to enter a new era? Is Sir Richard Branson about to mount a Virgin Trains comeback on the West Coast Mai...

Jacobite steam train controversy intensifies as customers vent their frustration at increasingly poor service. HS2 – the Government makes a sensible u-turn on funding the HS2 tunnels from Old Oak Common to Euston… but did Labour miss an opportunity with their response to the news? We discuss the initial findings of our look into train drivers’ terms and conditions following the feedback we receive...

What the Metro Mayors want to spend YOUR money on – we delve into some of the transport promises in winning Mayoral manifestos and ask how realistic they are. Richard has to eat a bit of humble pie over Yorkshire; and The Channel Tunnel turns 30! This time presented by Richard Bowker and Green Signals General Manager Stef Foster. Green Signals: Website - http://www.greensignals.org YouTube - https...

Our Top 5 myths of rail ‘nationalisation’ based on the reaction to Labour’s plans for the railway if it wins the next General Election. We discuss what’s been said in the media and by others and debunk some of the myths that are starting to take root as a result. Rail Minister Huw Merriman was our most recent Big Interview guest we reflect on what he said and whether we agreed with him on everythi...

We meet Rail Minister Huw Merriman in his private office at the Department for Transport to ask as many of the big questions people have about our railways as we could. We cover: HS2 - the decision to cancel the line to Manchester, the facts about the project's rising costs, and whether Network North is a genuine alternative. Train strikes - we ask "surely it's time that everybody sta...

Trains vs planes – why taking the train can be up to 80% cheaper than flying and 17 times greener, according to new research published by the Rail Delivery Group. We examine the findings in detail… and discover some surprising facts along the way. Rail ‘fat cats’ earn big bonuses, while passengers face worse performance… but is that really true? According to the Daily Mirror it is, but we don’t ag...

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has announced Labour’s Plan to Fix Britain’s Railways (Getting Britain Moving) – Richard and Nigel give their first impressions of the plan and pull out the key points in this special Breaking News Special episode. We answer: Will it work? Is it ‘unfunded and pointless’, as suggested by the Government? What could it mean for rail fares and ticketing...

The inner workings of the Department for Transport and Government finances are revealed in this fascinating interview with former Permanent Secretary of both the Department for Transport and the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam. Having spent his career as a senior civil servant, including in roles within the Treasury, there is no one better to tell the inside story of the Government’s relationship w...

The Jacobite steam train fails on its first run of the season from Fort William to Mallaig, stopping near Glenfinnan viaduct… and it had Mk 1 carriages on the train. Alstom Derby and the Government are on the verge of doing a deal over a train order for the Elizabeth line – an order that could save the UK train manufacturing facility. Is the East Coast Main Line timetable change heading towards a...

The latest updates on both the Jacobite steam train stand-off with ORR and the campaign to save Alstom Derby’s UK train manufacturing facility. We’re not beyond the point of no return to save Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane train building facility but government MUST act now or we will lose it. We analyse our exclusive interview with Alstom Managing Director of UK and Ireland Nick Crossfield, which...

Nick Crossfield, Managing Director of Alstom's UK and Ireland business discusses the background to the desperate situation at the Alstom Derby UK manufacturing train building factory, where closure through lack of orders is a real possibility. It would have devastating consequences for the men and women who work there and on the UK's credibility in global rail vehicle manufacturing. We dis...

Are 147 years of UK manufacturing of trains about to come to an end in Derby as Alstom begins the process of mothballing its facility there? The Jacobite steam train dispute between West Coast Railway Company and the Office of Rail and Road rumbles on. Is Labour about to do a u-turn on bringing the railways back into public ownership? Leading to a somewhat spicy debate between Nigel and Richard ab...

West Coast Railway Company stops sales of Jacobite steam train tickets – the famous Harry Potter Hogwarts Express route across Glenfinnan Viaduct, amid another battle with the ORR over central door locking.   Mayors Andy Street and Andy Burnham unveil their alternative to HS2… but is it a viable alternative?   ASLEF announces more train strikes. And… good news on train passenger numbers! Rail jour...

The Department for Transport appoints Scotland’s Railway Managing Director Alex Hynes as its new Director General of the Rail Infrastructure and Service Delivery Group, giving us a ray of hope for the first time, which leads us on to… Richard spilling the beans on a hitherto unknown exchange that took place during the Rail Review 2004 – and why we must heed the lessons on history. Auditors questio...

We examine what the railway got from last week’s budget with a bit of Budget 2024 analysis… spoiler alert – nothing that hasn’t already been announced! The National Audit Office (NAO) report into the Department for Transport’s Rail Transformation Programme is not flattering – we discuss why five of the high level benefits have been rated RED. The Department for Transport reorganises again. Is it j...

Train tickets just got more expensive… Rail fares go up by 4.9% sparking fury amongst passenger groups. Has the time come to reconsider the balance between fares and subsidy?   Rail Minister Huw Merriman and driver’s union ASLEF are at loggerheads again – and a resolution seems as far away as ever.   Our adventures on Great Western Railway begin with the launch of our Pullman dining video ( https:...

Local leaders are to receive £4.7 billion to transform transport in the North and Midlands through the Local Transport Fund – money that has apparently been reallocated from HS2. But is there a catch? Why has the Government still not committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail? Henri Murison, Chief Executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership joins us to discuss! Avanti West Coast talk about what th...

Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines joins us to talk all things draft Rail Reform Bill. If you’ve been left with all sorts of questions after the Department for Transport’s recent announcement, watch this and you’ll be much clearer afterwards! We talk about: Is the Great British Railways (GBR) brand going to be the name of the new Integrated Rail Body or will it die as some have been sugges...

The Department for Transport finally publishes the Rail Reform Bill, but is there any point to it? Nigel reviews the annual George Bradshaw address which saw two senior rail politicians go head-to-head. But who came out on top? Avanti West Coast are in the national news again thanks largely to ASLEF – but has the union overstepped the mark this time? And Richard has been in the firing line over hi...

Richard talks about his visit to Wales & Borders with Nick Millington MBE, Route Director at Network Rail and finds out about lagoons, climate models and vegetation control. In particular Richard is amazed at the complex multi-agency approach to securing ecology licences and concludes, perhaps controversially, that it's time to let Network Rail self certify. After all, they can do it with...

Richard Bowker visits Network Rail's Wales and Western region to spend the day with Route Director Nick Millington MBE. It's a fascinating day of learning about the challenges of weather resilience on Britain's railways, the devastating effects of climate change, the complexities of managing trees and vegetation on the lineside... and surprisingly, about dormice. How does Network Rail...

Following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s scrapping of HS2 Phase 2A, HS2 is branded ‘very poor value for money’ by the Public Accounts Committee… And... is Labour about to unveil its plans for its own vision of rail nationalisation, and is it back to the bad old days of curly sandwiches?

Train strikes have hit the headlines frequently over the past three years as an increasingly bitter dispute between train drivers’ union ASLEF and the government and train operating companies continues. Our Big Interview guest is ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan. We find out how the rail strikes began in the first place and what has happened since… And, crucially, what it will take to end the l...