Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

The train strike for later this month is very likely to go ahead. This near-certainty applies to all three national rail strike days – 21, 23 and 25 June – called by the RMT union on Tuesday. It is also inevitable, in my view, that the “bonus strike” on the London Underground called to coincide with the first day on 21 June, will take place. Of course, this podcast is free as i...

With half-term hostilities over, I fondly imagine the airlines would have a chance to get everyone home who was caught up in the hundreds of short-notice flight cancellations over the bank holiday weekend, and regroup to face the summer ahead. Instead, by Tuesday the cancellation crisis was getting even worse – with at least 60 UK flights grounded by easyJet alone, leaving an estimated 10,000 peop...

London is once again gummed up by a Tube strike involving members of the RMT union. Transport for London, which runs the Underground, is accused by the union of threatening 600 jobs, tearing up working agreements and posing a “looming threat to pensions”. Workers point out that they worked all the way through Covid to keep trains running, and do not wish to accept any compulsory job losses. But fi...

I took a trip to the stately home of Burghley House, which reminded me of the virtues of the Midlands. It's a wonderful part of the world, but once again, Britain's infrastructure can make getting to the delights of the midlands a bit more arduous than it need be. Of course this podcast is free, much like my weekly newsletter which you can find at https://www.independent.co.uk/newsletters Hosted o...

Could this be the world's best-ever rail deal: unlimited travel anywhere in Germany by rail, bus, tram or U-bahn for the whole of June for €9 (£7.70) – just 25p per day. The one-month ticket has been backed by billions of euros by the German government in a bid to entice people back to public transport. And it’s open to foreign visitors as well, including Simon Calder, travel correspondent of The...

We need to talk about Brexit – and its role in the present travel chaos. Of course Amsterdam and Dublin airports are seeing long queues, but leaving the EU has subtracted staff from airlines and airports in the UK to an alarming degree. As I write on 31 May 2022, I note that a year ago we had only just been released from the 19-week international travel ban; Portugal was the only major country on...

As London's ferociously expensive new railway begins its first full week, I've been looking deeper into the benefits of the project formerly known as Crossrail – including superstations that stretch between two stops on the London Underground. Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...

It's been a horrific week for the state of aviation as scores and scores of flights have been cancelled last minute for a multitude of reasons. According to my calculations, there's been over 1,000 flights cancelled this week - mostly by British Airways but Easyjet have also had issues with flight paths. I take a look at what's happening and why - and how there's not much hope of improvement in th...

Easyjet is having a nightmare today, having to cancel dozens of flights as IT failures ground its fleet. It's a good time to remind you of your rights as passengers if flights are cancelled unexpectedly on you by any operator. Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

Railway workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions, the RMT union has announced. I let you know when these strikes could begin, and which lines are likely to be impacted. Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

After years of delays, spiralling costs and a name change, Crossrail, now the Elizabeth Line has finally begun service today and I'm one the first train to take passengers this morning. The Elizabeth Line promises to make travel across the capital far quicker and much more simple for passengers, joining Reading out in the west of London to Shenfield, out in Essex. Though the line is open now, ther...

Just ahead of the half-term week for many UK schools, Spain has dropped its hard-line approach to unvaccinated British visitors. Now any unvaccinated British visitor aged 12 or above can enter Spain with proof of a negative coronavirus test – which can be a relatively cheap and quick rapid antigen (lateral flow) test taken within the 24 hours before departure. Of course this podcast is completely...

Scotrail is having a terrible time of it, having to slash one-third of trains across the nation from Monday. I look at the reasons why they have to, with a shortage of drivers and a backlog in training new ones and what it means for their service across Scotland. Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted o...

Ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend, there are reports of travel chaos for people travelling to the capital for the celebrations. I can see a bit of disruption, but mainly in northern England. So don't panic ... Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

A summer like no other. Never before have I seen such extremes of pricing for holidays abroad – including a Ryanair trip from Stansted to Pisa that costs just £24 return next Monday to Thursday – but £500 more for identical flights a week later. If you don’t have to travel during school holidays, you’ll save a fortune. But if you must – there’s always the French camping option… Of course this podc...

The sermon today is Smart Save. Never heard of it? Well, it’s the name given by LNER, the train operator on the East Coast main line from London to Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland, for special “split tickets” that will save money for some travellers. You can only find them on the LNER app; a trial appears to be taking place at present, and they are fairly rare. But hopefully they represe...

A  Sunderland  football fan is travelling to London via ­Menorca to watch a match at Wembley, as it’s cheaper to fly on a budget airline than getting a train or bus, papers have reported this week. James Jelly, a 33-year-old purchasing manager, says he is travelling to the capital for Sunderland’s League One play-off against Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley Stadium this Saturday. He cla...

On Sunday the rail schedules in Great Britain will undergo their usual summer update – with winners and losers across the nation. Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since  Brexit , the rules on  passport  validity for British visitors to the European Union have tightened. But the UK government tells travellers the regulations are worse than they actually are. After requests from  The Independent ,  the Home Office has taken down its defective post-Brexit passport checker , which I'll explain to you what are now the rules in place and...

Friday 12 August will be the busiest day of the year for the number of available airline seats, a leading analyst has predicted. John Grant, chief analyst at OAG, calculates that 16.1 million seats are on offer worldwide for that date at present. The exact number is likely to change as airlines adjust schedules, with an overall picture of 0.6 per cent of capacity removed every week. The busiest da...

Today's sermon: in praise of overbooking. Selling more tickets than there are seats on an aircraft can be a real benefit. When airlines do it right – and are generous in incentivising passengers to volunteer to be offloaded and travel on a later flight – then everyone's a winner. Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newslette...

Back to the future on the railways: for the first time since 1947, fares across Ireland on trains and buses have been cut by 20 per cent. It follows the astonishing 100 per cent cut in fares in Luxembourg in 2020 when all public transport was made free. Could it happen here? Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. H...

Two bits of good news has put a spring in my step into the weekend. Overnight Ryanair has aligned with the actual European rules on passport validity. And even better than that, the sale of the half-century is upon us: half-price Interrail passes for one, two or three months of travel on the trains of Europe. Tempted? Buy by 11.59pm on Tuesday 10 May. Seen you on board. Of course this podcast is c...

It's all about passport validity for Europe. The only subject, it seems, in town. Sometimes it feels that I'm on my own in wanting to make sure people aren't wrongly deprived of their holidays. Just a quick reminder of what the rules are for Brits going to the EU: passport issued less than 10 years ago on day of entry, expiry date at least three months away on day of exit. Of course this podcast i...

The Elizabeth Line, or long known as Crossrail, finally has a live date for trains to commence carrying passengers from the 24th May. Initially the great east-west railway beneath central London will be run in three separate chunks – and not at all on Sundays. But within a few years I hope we will have forgotten the chaotic project management and instead celebrate an addition to the capital’s infr...