Green Signals

Huw Merriman, former Minister of Rail in the last Conservative Government talks about his new role as Chair of the Liverpool Manchester Railway Board. He explains how Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester) and Steve Rotheram (Mayor of Liverpool City Region) have tasked him with leading the creation of far more than just a railway – an economic corridor to promote jobs and growth on a big scale...

Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains fights hard to return to the West Coast Main Line with an appeal to the Office of Rail and Road over available capacity We ask how many public officials does it take to have a meeting about railway projects these days? And a new Northumberland Line station – Newsham opens In this episode: (00:00) Intro(00:40) Virgin Trains open access fight(31:50) How many officials...

Flying Scotsman DOES have a main line future – we speak to the National Railway Museum about plans for the world-famous locomotive Where now for HS2? The Public Accounts Committee asks what benefits can be “salvaged” from the project and we speak to former project Chairman Allan Cooke CBE And… Does the Royal Train have a future after all? In this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:47) Flying Scotsman’s ma...

Heritage Railway Association CEO Steve Oates talks about the challenges facing the heritage railway sector. Steam railways are under increasing pressure, threatening the financial viability of them as businesses. Steve provides a unique insight into difficulties and what railways are doing to try and ensure their survival. Subscribe: If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. Better stil...

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) threatens Network Rail with possible enforcement action under the Health & Safety at Work Act. Could there be growing safety concerns with some of our railway structures? We look at the reaction to the government’s Railways Bill consultation on GBR and hear from the Rail Freight Group’s Director General, Maggie Simpson. There are strong words from the Heritage...

The government publishes ‘Delivering a railway fit forBritain’s future’. It’s the clearest indication yet of the government’sintentions for the future structure of GBR. In the most dramatic change of all, GBR will allocate accessto the network – and the ORR is downgraded to an appeals body. It marks the endof the 1993 Railways Act vision of access and access charges determined by anindependent reg...

Amongst all the HS2 construction updates, one important thing has been missing. What is HS2 actually going to be like for passengers? When will we see HS2 trains running? What will the customer experience be like? What has the cancellation of Phase 2a meant for plans to transform rail travel on the West Coast? All these questions and many more are the domain of West Coast Partnership Development M...

2025 is a big year for the railway. It’s the 200thanniversary of the Stockton & Darlington railway, which is generally considered the world’s first commercial railway venture. Celebrations are getting underway, so Stef had a chat withEmma Robertson and Anthony Coulls to find out what’s being planned. Emma is the Railway 200 Programme Manager for GBRTT and Anthony is Senior Curator for Rail Tra...

Is a Virgin Trains comeback on the West Coast Main Lineabout to be crushed? And the Department for Transport strongly objects to a swarm of other open access applications in a letter to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) setting out its concerns. And… Richard samples Transport for Wales’ Premier Dining… In this episode: (00:00) Intro (00:50) Virgin Trains comeback to be crushed? (25:47) Shamit Gaig...

An HS2 construction update this week with the completion of an incredible 4,500 tonne deck slide for a viaduct at Small Dean in Buckinghamshire Richard takes a trip to see the wonderful semaphore signals and manual signalboxes at Shrewsbury And… We find out all about hotly anticipated The Greatest Gathering at Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane to celebrate Railway 200 In this episode: (00:00) Intro(01...

Has Chancellor Rachel Reeves given the economy the growth serum it needs, or is she on a planet looking increasingly like it’s far, far away? Great British Railways could have the ‘scale and impact’ of the NHS. Seriously?! And the Transport Select Committee grills the Chair of Shadow GBR and the Rail Minister on progress setting up the new organisation – and we ask - have they made any?! In this e...

Rail Partners is a trade body that was set up to promote and focus on the interests of the private sector train operators, both passenger and freight, on the railway. But it has become a casualty of the Labour government’s approach to railways and the increasing drive towards nationalisation of operators. Rail Partners announced recently that from March 2025 they will wind up their operations. The...

Forget trains, roads are the way forward – or that seems to be the message from the National Infrastructure Commission’s Chairman Sir John Armitt CBE at a recent Transport Select Committee session. … Not helped by news reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering scaling back rail spending. Big time. And we starting investigating what’s going on with planned upgrades on the West Coast Main...

A brand new railway is being built in Wales. They have theland. They have the planning permission. Some of the ballast is even laid. All they need is the rest of the money to finish it and they can reconnect a railway with its town. The Bala Lake Railway (home of the beautiful Quarry Hunslets) on the banks of the glorious Bala Lake in Snowdonia is raising the money to take the railway from its cur...

Railway accidents and train crashes are investigated thoroughly to find out what caused them and how they can be prevented from happening again. We spoke to Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) Deputy Chief Inspector Andy Lewis to find out how accident investigation has changed, what RAIB’s role is, and to learn about recent accidents. We discuss the Flying Scotsman collision at the Strathspe...

Is Virgin Trains about to make a comeback in the UK with a £500m train order to operate services through the Channel Tunnel to compete with Eurostar? Is passenger revenue now on the rise as well as passenger numbers? We review Office of Rail and Road figures and Great British Railways Transition Team analysis of the latest data. We speak to RAIB Deputy Chief Inspector Andy Lewis about the Strathsp...

We take a trip to the Transport for Wales Taffs Well depot to find out about progress on a remarkable project - the South Wales Metro. TfW CEO James Price talks to us about what’s happening on the project and plans for the future, as well as delving into the wider challenges (and successes) of running the railways in Wales. Membership: If you want to see even more from Green Signals, including exc...

Is Northern Powerhouse Rail dead? And levelling up with it…? Has the Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander signalled the beginning of the end for Open Access operators on the railway? Richard visits Transport for Wales to talk to CEO James Price and learns about South Wales Metro as well as the challenges of delivering rail in Wales January train strikes hit the railway with RMT taking...

What does 2025 have in store for the railway? We first take a look back at the big stories of 2024, before looking forward to the year ahead… And an HS2 construction update – Euston station is confirmed at just 6 platforms, but the first Tunnel Boring Machine completes its journey under the capital to Ealing In this episode: (00:00) Intro (01:49) Biggest stories of 2024 (08:15) Good news from 2024...

Richard Bowker is in conversation with his father Roger Bowker, a legendary transport industry professional who spent 62 years in the bus industry working for Eastern National, Oldham Corporation, SELNEC, Greater Manchester Transport, Rossendale Transport, Eastbourne Buses, London Transport and Stagecoach Group. A pioneer with the industry, Roger Bowker’s passion for excellence in service whilst a...

The Northumberland Line opens to passengers from Newcastle to Ashington after 60 years. The Isle of Wight’s Island Line major engineering reaches the halfway point. And… Rail Minister Lord Hendy makes his first appearance at the Transport Select Committee. Bit of a different episode this week with Nigel in the UK and Richard in Abu Dhabi! So a shorter show, but still full of the all the latest rai...

A £500 million Hitachi Rail train deal for Lumo & Hull Trains. But is this in direct conflict with the Labour Government’s railway renationalisation plans? We speak to First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery to find out more about the deal and discuss what it means for the future of open access. Blackpool Trams announces suspension of Heritage Trams And we round up the latest railway sta...

Open Access railway operation is a divisive topic. Whilst there have been undoubted success stories with major communities such as Hull and Bradford previously sidelined by the big operators suddenly being reconnected with through services to London, there have been challenges. How much do Open Access services abstract from existing operators, and can they really claim to be operated entirely at t...

Heritage railways face an existential threat as Autumn Budget tax changes will cost some more than £200,000 a year! We speak to Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway General Manager and Acting Chair of the Heritage Railway Association Paul Lewin to find out just how challenging things have become for steam and heritage railways. Heidi Alexander becomes the new Transport Secretary following the s...

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has stunned her colleagues, the DFT and everyone in the railway by announcing her shock resignation just hours after a story broke regarding a Magistrates’ discharge almost 10 years ago. Her decision to go quickly rather than try and ride out the storm has thrown the rail industry into yet another period of uncertainty, right at the moment that it looked like a cle...