Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

I'm joined by National Express chief executive Alex Jensen. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucky for some, in particular passengers on Avanti West Coast who have just been told the train managers' strike for 22, 23 and 29 December has been called off because an improved offer has been made. Plenty of problems remain, however. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's travel podcast is all about Frantic Friday, Slow Saturday and Messy Monday, the unholy trinity of busy days on the motorways of Britain in the build-up to Christmas. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past few years, rail strikes have become as synonymous with Christmas as Mariah Carey and Wham! The incoming Labour government vowed to “move fast and fix things” in transport; ministers and officials quickly settled the train drivers’ dispute with a 15 per cent pay award covering three years. But stoppages are back for Christmas 2024 on the intercity network linking London Euston with th...

A recent survey has revealed that the UK has the most expensive domestic trains in Europe. It does not compute for me. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm looking back at the damage from Storm Darragh and Storm Burt to travel plans, and wondering if aviation and rail could be more resilient. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up  here  to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I am at London Paddington station, hub for the Great Western Railway serving the West of England and South Wales. There's disruption to many trains here and elsewhere in the country due to the earlier failure of the Network Rail communications system, known as GSM-R. This is an embarrassment for the government in a week in which ministers have assured the public that train delays can only get bett...

I'm at the junction of Andrew Young International Boulevard and Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, which is a complete surprise to me because I'm supposed to be in London, England. Unfortunately Delta Airlines had different ideas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm trying to make sense of the government's announcement of the first three train operators to be brought back into public ownership. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up  here  to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm talking with Marion Geoffroy, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK, about the airline's operation at London Gatwick airport. The disruption on 22 November caused by a security scare was a headache for airlines and their passengers; Marion tells me about how the airline handled it. March 2025 will see the deployment of a new mid-to-long-haul aircraft for Wizz Air at Gatwick, which initially will se...

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition when they travel on holiday to our favourite foreign destination, but from today, the government in Madrid is expecting to collect a lot more data from travellers. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Untangling the red tape of global travel with Samantha McKnight, vice-president of Client Solutions for CIBTvisas in London. Subscribe to The Independent Travel newsletter. It arrives in your inbox every Friday, so make sure you're on the list here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I have been covering two big railway stories: the roll-out of a new £1bn fleet of trains, known as Arterio, at London Waterloo; and, the remarkable news that the taxpayer is currently subsidising the railways to the tune of £12.5bn a year. That is a difficult figure to conceive, so I have calculated a less-cumbersome figure: £400 of public money per second. To his credit, Stuart Meek – inter...

I am talking to the present – and future – bosses of Britain's biggest budget airline, easyJet, about the latest financial figures and the year ahead. Current CEO Johan Lundgren is leaving at the end of the year, and current CFO Kenton Jarvis is taking over at the top. Apologies for the less-than-perfect audio quality, as I explain, the interviews were done on the hop. For a more crystal clear pic...

Ant Stone, Director of Marketing EMEA for G Adventures, tells me about how Pakistan and Tibet are opening up – and that he's a backpacker at heart. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Holiday prices and air fares surge during school holidays compared with term times – two, three or four times as much. Always has been the case, always will be. Or will it? I'm talking to aviation expert Jonathan Hinkles, who is hoping to persuade the government that action short of legislation is the answer. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have...

Today's travel podcast guest is Paul Goldstein, wildlife guide and photographer who is just back from leading a tour in the Pantanal of Brazil – where he reports dozens of jaguar sightings. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Office of Rail and Road has released the latest figures on the UK's busiest – and quietest – rail stations. London's Elizabeth Line dominates the table – but worryingly, there are three stations with fewer than two passengers a week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Brown CBE has been one of the leading railway figures in the UK for four decades – including 11 years as chief executive and then chairman of Eurostar, the Channel Tunnel passenger rail service. He has just brought out a book –  Changing Times, Changing Trains  – in which he prescribes what is needed to turn around the fortunes of the UK's increasingly unhappy rail industry. This...

It's Travel Desk Tuesday for The Independent's travel podcast, and today I am talking to travel writer Amelia Neath about a new Wales-England-Scotland train link; an unfortunate legal case of Norovirus on a cruise ship; and Spirit Airlines entering bankruptcy – though not in a way that should alarm anyone with a forward booking on the US budget carrier. This podcast is free, as is Independent Trav...

On today's travel podcast for The Independent, I am talking to Ranjiv Bhalla – founder and chief executive of Veenus Travel, which organises high-end heritage steam train journeys in the UK. What's the appeal of a Bristol to Plymouth day-trip costing nearly £1,000. Ranjiv says: you'll feel like a superstar. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it...

I’m at London St Pancras International with transport guru, Thomas Ableman. How do Paddington, Marylebone and Euston compare – and which is his overall winner? This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m at London St Pancras International with transport guru Thomas Ableman. How does he rate the station, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, and Victoria? This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's 30 years tomorrow since the first ever Eurostar train. I'm talking to the culture and history specialist from France 24, Florence Gaillard. We're talking about how the French look at the UK. This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Travel Desk Tuesday I'm talking to Ben Parker about Dorset about how it's become a cool trendy secret. Perched on the south of the UK, Dorset is a hidden gem between Devon and Cornwall. If you head there you could try Sherborne Abbey amongst the hills, or you could check out Shaftesbury or go in land and explore the area Thomas Hardy wrote about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...