#Railnatter podcast

Tonight on #Railnatter! Bradford’s cancelled through station and Tracy Brabin’s Westminster problem, the London Assembly report on driverless taxis, and GBR’s proposed temporary train liveries. Plus, why train design matters and the latest transport news!

TONIGHT on #Railnatter: Copenhagen and Leeds are surprisingly similar, yet Copenhagen has twice the GDP. The difference? An integrated transport system with a proper metro at its heart. What can Leeds learn, and what should West Yorkshire’s Weaver Metro look like?

Tonight on #Railnatter... We page-turn the GBR rolling stock and infrastructure strategy, released last month to tremendous fanfare. There's some very good stuff in it that we'll flag, but does it take us any further forwards? Find out tonight, LIVE at 8pm!

IF YOU MISSED IT! Last night, we welcomed @postoctobrist.bsky.social to help tell the story of PFI, how it was thrust upon an unwilling public by about six guys, how it is completely intertwined with the story of UK transport engineering and how the Treasury used it to completely break Britain.

Tonight on #Railnatter, we’re looking at the ECML between Newcastle and Edinburgh. It's one of the most beautiful lines, but operationally, it’s a mess. Intensive intercity services comes at the expense of local ones, leaving some stations among Britain’s least-used. So how do we fix it?

"I'm a track team leader for NR, there's so much I could say, that I've wanted to say for a long time but cannot for obvious reasons... It seems to me that we have learnt absolutely nothing. Lives seem cheap and people have short memories." Catch last night's #Railnatter now.

Tonight on #Railnatter, we look at Britain’s failing railway infrastructure, following the Lewes and Wickford derailments, both caused by track buckles. Why has our railway been left to deteriorate this far? What happens when we stop renewing it? And why is Hendy involved again?

California High Speed Rail is stumbling onwards, and we'll be catching up with progress as best we can tonight, as we look at the 2024 State Rail Plan to see whether HSR is being put into a wider transport context, and whether California can avoid the worst failures of HS2 in the UK.

Tonight on #Railnatter, Gareth is looking over the proposed Washington extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to see if it works, and what to look out for as the proposals develop. Also: there's news to catch up on!

CrossCountry fell apart on Sunday, cancelling most services and sending disruption rippling across the network. Tonight on #Railnatter, we look at what’s broken, whether new trains could fix it, and if we should scrap CrossCountry entirely?

2 derailments in 24 hours. 4 in 12 months. The DfT continues to underfund rail, whilst daily incidents occur on the railway and frontline staff are being pushed to the brink. All while ministers take credit for trains they didn't buy, hide behind PR and "GBR", and neglect rail.

This week #Railnatter returns LIVE from 8 PM! We are building a new railway from York to Hull, looking at route options, stations, services and costs, and most importantly setting the railway into its local, regional and national context. Make sure you bring your thoughts, opinions and proposals!

If you noticed there wasn’t a #Railnatter yesterday, don’t worry! 👀 @garethdennis.uk is taking a little break this week, but we’ve got some things to tide you over on both YouTube and Patreon. We should be back next week as usual!

We have new leadership for the country, but for transport its the same. In tonights #Railnatter we explore what the ideal rail organisation looks like. We also here from Jo Grew of GWR & NR Western on intergrated operations and remind ourselves: what is this all for?

Tonight, we are looking in detail at the RAIB report into the Talerddig crash where two trains collided resulting in the tragic death of a passenger. Given last week's two-train crash near Bedford, one not to be missed.