Green Signals

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...

Storm Bert wreaks havoc across the railway with heavy flooding and high winds causing major disruption for trains. Richard visits Northampton station, which experienced major flooding when the River Nene burst its banks. Here’s just a snapshot of some of the problems: Great Western Railway was running very limited services at the start of the week and advising people not to travel. Greater Anglia...

Have you ever wondered what goes into make a locomotive naming happen? Well, this is the story… following the process to name GB Railfreight 66312 Nigel Harris on November 4. From choosing the location, to negotiating timetable changes, casting the nameplate, moving the locomotive, to the final naming ceremony, we discover the logistical challenges behind a nameplate finally appearing on an engine...

Great British Railways - Will it really take 2 years to create? We discuss Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh’s appearance at the Transport Select Committee and her comments on the creation of GBR. Is Northern Rail performance about to improve, or is there still a long road ahead? A deal is done on Rest Day Working for conductors, but many challenges remain. £26bn – that’s what rail’s v...

We take a behind the scenes tour of the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway to chat to WyvernRail Plc Chairman Neil Ferguson-Lee about how the railway is doing in the current climate of heritage railways that are struggling. We find out about the challenges of running a heritage railway and what it takes to make it work. And we learn about this wonderful little railway, while on a journey from Wirksworth...

HS2’s £100 million ‘bat shed’… and the real story behind it. Why Natural England have taken issue with HS2 Chairman Sir Jon Thompson’s discussion at the Railway Industry Association annual conference of a bat mitigation tunnel in Buckinghamshire to protect Bechstein’s bat. Jacobite steam train - is West Coast Railways considering another Judicial Review over central door locking in its dispute wit...

Wales train crash new evidence: RAIB (the Rail Accident Investigation Branch) issues a further update with new information on the Talerddig rail crash on October 21st What is going on at Northern Rail? And why is performance SO bad? A week after the Autumn Budget, what have we learnt about what it means for railways? The Welsh Highland Railway gets complaints from nearby residents about ‘acrid smo...

On November 7th, Green Signals was live in person and on YouTube for the very first time at the Railway Industry Association (RIA) Annual Conference, joined by special guest Chris Green. Chris is a career railwayman in both the public and private rail industry. Among his industry achievements are creating the ScotRail brand during his time as General Manager Scotland and then Network SouthEast whe...

Electrification and battery technology are never far from discussions about decarbonisation of the railway. There are a number of solutions, including discontinuous electrification and battery-hybrid technology. We visited Salisbury Traincare Depot, home to South Western Railway’s Class 159 fleet. Richard speaks to Neil Drury, Engineering & Infrastructure Director for SWR about how the operato...

The Rail Accident Investigation branch releases its initial findings into the fatal train crash at Talerddig, Powys, Wales on October 21. Euston station sees some progress on the Government’s 5 point plan – but will it deliver real improvement? Plus… Richard speaks to Chiltern Railways Managing Director Richard Allan about electrification, battery trains and Chiltern’s future In this episode: (00:...

This is a recording of a YouTube Live we did on October 30th - Autumn Budget Day 2024. Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her first Budget statement to MPs in the House of Commons and Richard and Nigel then went live for Green Signals members on YouTube to discuss what was in the Budget speech and how it affects the railways and wider transport. Membership: If you want to see even more from Green...

Sir David Higgins is known to most on the railway for holding two of the biggest roles there are – as a former Chairman of Network Rail and former Chairman of HS2. But he was also Chief Executive of the London 2012 Summer Olympics Delivery Authority before that. Australian-born, Higgins has returned to the HS2 spotlight as chair of a private sector consortium proposing the Midlands-Northwest Rail...

Ahead of the Autumn Budget on October 30 2024, Richard spoke to the Railway Industry Association’s (RIA’s) Chief Executive Darren Caplan about what the railway’s supply chain wants to see announced. They discuss: the economic value of investment in the railway, the importance of a pipeline of work to secure the supply chain, the part private finance might play, and some specific projects such as E...

It’s an HS2 special this week! Is an HS2 Phase 2a Euston to Crewe revival on the cards? We look into rumours that the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to reverse Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel the project. Sir David Higgins – we preview an exclusive interview with the former HS2 Chairman. Transport Secretary Louise Haigh launches an independent review into HS2 Phase 1, led by James S...

Green Signals was exclusively invited to visit Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane train building and maintenance works to have a look around in the wake of the news earlier in the year that a follow-on order would be made for Elizabeth Line trains – securing the future the site. Richard speaks to a process manufacturing engineer who started as an apprentice, and to Alstom’s Communications Director abou...

On the evening of October 21st, two Transport for Wales Class 158 trains were involved in a low-speed collision, right alongside the A470 main road, near Llanbrynmair (east of Machynlleth) in Powys, Mid Wales. Sadly, one passenger has died and 15 others were taken to hospital, with what have been described as non-life-threatening or life-changing injuries. In this short bulletin, we lay out the fa...