#Railnatter

It's a Wales episode! AND it's a bus episode! When I talk about Wales being way out ahead of the rest of the UK when it comes to integrating its transport system, hopefully this report will make the case... We're doing a classic page turn of the Welsh Government's Roadmap to Bus Reform report, covering network, timetable, and ticket integration. Let's see how good these plans are! Enjoyed this? Pl...

I often rant and rail about SUVs - you know, the cars designed to maximise the harm they cause to other road users - but what is the data behind the proliferation of these hugely damaging vehicles. Why are so many being sold? What are some of the consequences? Thankfully, an actual expert is joining us this week to dive into the numbers - Ralph Palmer is the UK electric vehicles and fleet lead off...

As ever, quite a lot has happened since we last caught up with the news... Not least that vapourware VTOL grifters Joby Aviation have convinced the British government that flying taxis are the future at the expense of anything else. It's another news episode! *I lied, they won't. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at   / garethdennis   or throw loose change at me via https://p...

This week we've the pleasure of welcoming back Bessie Matthews, train driver, author, illustrator, columnist and all-round railway industry treasure. In her career so far, she's navigated a good slice of the rail industry, and so we'll take the chance to explore her story so far and see what she's learned... Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at   / garethdennis   or throw loo...

After our first pause in four years, 200+ episodes, 280 hours and countless guests, we're back again (we only skipped three weeks!)... And I'm very pleased to welcome Robin Davis onto the show to talk all things Designing New Trains. Robin has presided over the introduction of several new intercity train fleets over successive generations of rolling stock design, and there's not a lot about design...

The UK government have finally published their plans for Great British Railways, or rather, the hollow shell of the original proposals, now called the Integrated Rail Body. If it's anything like the Integrated Rail Plan, we are in for trouble. Much as these plans are intended not to be enacted, the likelihood is that Labour will pick them up and deliver them largely intact, so it actually is worth...

CalTrain are pressing ahead with their completely bizarre obsession with hydrogen as a means of powering commuter and intercity trains. It is completely baffling. And it isn't the only nonsense that's been going down over the last few weeks! Join us as we chat about ROSCO profits, devolved mayors talking big, Euston station's big horrible LED billboard, London Overground's new line names, corrupti...

A much requested topic - we are going to dive into the waters of when British Rail ran boats (ships) in the form of British Rail Shipping and International Services, then Sealink UK, then Sealink British Ferries, then Stena Sealink Line, then Stena Line, then... Well, you get the picture. We'll try to demystify things. If you like boats (ships), arguably the trains of the sea, then this is the epi...

It's @Youngrailpro Rail Week! In the fourth (we missed one last year) of our YRP Rail Week specials, we are joined by the most guests we've ever squeezed into the format. Five mid-career panelists (most of whom are also former apprentices) are quizzed about building a career in the railway by an audience of current apprentices - because YES, it is also National Apprenticeship Week. And the questio...

Why is the railway network in the North so abysmal? Well, a lot of it comes down to a rather dismal series of bad policy decisions made through the 1990s and 2000s inflicted by - you guessed it - the over-centralised UK government. Constant cancellations of previous projects has led us to the point where the current "TRU" is only going to finish delivering its outputs in the 2030s, over 50 years a...

There's plenty of news to catch up on, but the big question we'll be answering this episode is "are track defects a particular problem on the Great Western?" - and we'll answer this by looking at data freely available on the @office-of-rail-and-road 's online data portal, accessible here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/ Join LIVE to find out the answer and to pitch in! Enjoyed this? Please do consi...

This has been much requested given the number of viewers from Ireland - to warm us up in advance of the release of the All Ireland Strategic Rail Review at some point in Spring, I thought we'd flick through the consultation paper (which is really good!) as well as getting our heads around the geography of the island of Ireland. We'll use our patented* population network method to work out what the...

It's our official 200th episode! How have we got here?! To celebrate, I'm running back through the previous episodes since the Episode 100 round-up - but this time not in running order. We'll group episodes with common themes to see if we can remember what we learnt - and if we've learnt anything new since... Watch the Episode 100 round-up:    • #RailNatter | Episode 100: Every epis...   Enjoyed t...

Now I've been going at Hyperloop's jugular for years now, and suffice to say it remains total and utter nonsense unworthy of any technological debate and only marginally worth one at all. We all know it is guff intended to both delay real railway solutions and to allow car and plane people a seat at governmental and regulatory "mass transit" tables. Yet Hyperloop refuses to die. Even when probably...

Now this one really is festive - and it will be live, so you are very much encouraged to bring along your favourite festive tipple... We're asking the big Christmas questions: should the railway shut down around Christmas, and should we concentrate the vast majority of our engineering works over a period when so many people make the sorts of trips the railway is perfectly placed to cater for, and...

Gather round the hearth for the first of our (still live!) festive episodes... This time we are exploring the story of the Torksey Viaduct, a tale which navigates the intertwining histories of railway companies, engineers, bridge design, competency, Megawatt Valley and more besides. Grab a mince pie, pour a port, and listen in! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://pat...

The UK government's "Plan For Drivers" didn't end up being as popular as they thought it might be... For a festive treat, this week's episode is doing a traditional page turn of what we at Natter Towers are sure is a well thought-through piece of long-term transport policy* - join us at the usual time to take a look for yourselves! *we do not think this Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting...

Lots of people have been asking for this one! You may notice I use a lot of maps and diagrams on here, on Twitter, and elsewhere too... People act surprised when I tell them I do them all in PowerPoint, because it is the best tool for the job in most cases! To get a free, interactive tutorial via the medium of me making up a few maps on the hoof, join LIVE on Wednesday at 8pm... Suggestions are co...

The Department for Transport have stopped up the datafeed that gives us the UK's full rail passenger ridership, so instead we're going to take a whizz through the ORR's latest passenger rail usage report to give us a feel for what's going on, how demand is looking across rail operators, and what this means when we think about the future. Join LIVE at 8pm on Wednesday! Enjoyed this? Please do consi...

This week, friend of the show Zach joins us to talk about the tramways and railways of Jersey, what they looked like at their zenith and what became of them... We'll even have a stab at reckoning if there's a good case for bringing them back! Join LIVE at 8pm on Wednesday! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at   / garethdennis   or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.m...

Two years ago, two Class 158 trains crashed into each other at Salisbury Tunnel Junction following an extreme storm. This week, we'll read through the recently published RAIB report to understand what happened and why - vegetation management and low adhesion will be big themes... Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me...

On the 3rd October 1983, the UK's first modern high speed line was fully opened between Doncaster and York... Chris Valkoinen from the @NatRailwayMuseum  contacted us to say he'd found a pile of technical drawings relating to the Selby Diversion and suggested we take a look - so that's precisely what this #Railnatter shall do in celebration of this momentous occasion! Enjoyed this? Please do consi...

On the 5th November 1993 (remember, remember, etc) the Railways Act 1993 received royal assent, and the wheels were truly set in motion for the atomisation of British Rail... An event that would lead us right into the mess we have today. To "celebrate" its 30th anniversary, I thought we'd have split tonight's show into two parts. The first will be a page-turn of the dismal white paper (New Opportu...

It's been ages since we've properly caught up with the news, so here's a massive run through of everything that has caught my eye since before I disappeared off on parental leave... We'll be talking HS2 (again), Headbolt Lane, the Plan For Drivers, digging up the M8 in Glasgow, electric Class 08 shunters, Superloop, HS2, Station Hall, Harper's Tin Foil Hat and the imminent doom currently hanging o...

In what will certainly not be the only episode we do on the title subject, I wanted to chew through the research done by Sam Dumitriu and Ben Hopkinson not too long ago... They looked at project costs, trying (and failing, in my view) to get to the bottom of why things cost so much more to deliver in the UK. I'll pick through their report and explain why their suggestion that cost is why nothing g...