Podcasts

#RailNatter

Join railway engineer and writer Gareth Dennis plus a wide range of guests on his semi-topical weekly talk show about all things rail...

All Aboard

Our old podcast decicated to transport, data, and innovation. Hosted by Neil McClure.

#Railnatter Episode 193: An illustrated history of Jersey’s tram and railways

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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 L...

#Railnatter Episode 192: A page-turn through the Salisbury rail crash report

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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 ...

#Railnatter Episode 191: It’s forty years since the UK built its first high speed line

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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 s...

#Railnatter Episode 190: Thirty years of privatisation and what should happen next

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 20:00:00 +0000

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 "celebrat...

#Railnatter Episode 189: What the heck else has been happening?! (it’s a news ep!)

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 20:00:00 +0100

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, d...

Episode 188: Why is UK infrastructure so slow and costly to build?

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 19:00:00 +0100

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 b...

Episode 187: HS2 has been cancelled, so what happens next? (a Q&A)

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 19:00:00 +0100

Well, as predicted by me in 2018, and then essentially confirmed as inevitable two years ago on release of the Integrated Rail Plan, this Conservative government of Hunt, Sunak and Harper have cancelled HS2, leaving the most expensive section between...

Episode 186: Putting geofencing to good use to improve track safety

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 19:00:00 +0100

We are joined by the founder and CEO of Tended, Leo Scott Smith, to talk about how you turn an idea into a solution that can save lives... And we'll talk a bit about how the railway forms the perfect filter to sort pointless from purposeful tech. Geo...

Episode 185: Why the UK aviation industry is in steep decline

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 19:00:00 +0100

In what might prove to be another cornerstone episode of #RailNatter, Dr Alex Chapman from  @theneweconomics  discusses his research into the economic benefits of the aviation industry to the UK... Or rather the fact that there aren't any. Seriously ...