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 consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 201
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 ideal railway system should look like, as well as considering the suburban needs of the big cities....
Jan 17, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 200
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 this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at / garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 199
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 its most well-known company has now bitten the dust, entirely as predicted. Well, we'll dig into wh...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 198
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 at a time when weather and blood-alcohol levels are at their most dangerous? Join LIVE to share your...
Dec 27, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 197
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://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 196
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 #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/ga...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 195
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 coming in via the Discord server (link below) for where those maps are, by the way, and the Bristol Me...
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 194
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 consider supporting #Railnatter at / garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garet...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 193
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.me/garethdennis . Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch . Join in the discussion at https://garethden...
Nov 22, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 192
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 via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussi...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 191
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 consider supporting #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https:...
Nov 08, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 190
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 Opportunities For The Railways) co-authored by the @adamsmithinstitute and @hmtreasuryuk that gave us the i...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 189
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 over all of us. Join the fun, LIVE on Weds at the new (possibly temporary) slot of 8pm - that's EIGHT...
Oct 25, 2023•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 188
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 gets done in the UK is pretty far off the mark, and is at minimum a case of the tail wagging the dog,...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 187
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 London and Birmingham as a rump to be picked at by Treasury vampires until it is impossible to deliver the full scheme. There's so much to talk about, so rather than going though anything in a structured way, let's make this an open Q&A like our...
Oct 11, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 186
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. Geofencing is used pretty widely these days, but protecting staff on track is a particularly tricky and critical application - and this is where Tended come in. Join LIVE at 7pm on Wednesday! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at ht...
Oct 04, 2023•59 min•Ep. 185
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 - this is fascinating stuff and lays bare the ideology behind the disproportionate subsidy of the airline industry in the UK and further afield... All while rail continues to have funding cut in real terms. Not to be missed! Enjoyed this? Please do con...
Sep 27, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 185
Join @MrTimDunn and me as we dash around the @NatRailwayMuseum 's new gallery - Wonderlab - in the only way we both know how... Chaotically! We have the most tremendous fun whizzing around what I think is likely to be my second favourite space in the NRM after the warehouse/North Shed, BECAUSE THIS SPACE IS SO GOOD (particularly for me as an infrastructure person)! Want to know what it is all about? Well, we show you almost everything we can in the space of an hour, with an interview with Wonerl...
Sep 22, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 184
It's the finale of our three-part odyssey through the former Yugoslavia, following one of the world's most scenic railways from Belgrade in present-day Serbia to Bar in present-day Montenegro. We've reached the highest point of the line, and only have a limited length of line to get back down to sea level... And there are a few feats of spectacular engineering required to get us there! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose chan...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 183
Leo Murray has finally joined us to talk about the latest invasion of car infrastructure onto our pavements - that's right, electric vehicle charging points are the latest menace we are having to negotiate. But given we do actually need these things to be installed, how do we go about it? What's the scale of the problem? And what does "good" look like? Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/gar...
Sep 06, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 182
It's the second of a three-part odyssey through the former Yugoslavia, following one of the world's most scenic railways from Belgrade in present-day Serbia to Bar in present-day Montenegro. We're truly nestled in the heart of the mountains in western Serbia at this point, and indeed we take a wee trip into Bosnia before eventually ending up in Montenegro... This time we journey from Užice to Kolašin. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or ...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 181
I'm very pleased this week to have been joined by Hannah Lawrence from Stay Grounded, talking about the legitimacy of flying, the inequality of flying, and campaigning against the worst excesses of aviation. There will be infographics galore! It's a great episode! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussion at https://ga...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 180
It's the first of a three-part odyssey through the former Yugoslavia, following one of the world's most scenic railways from Belgrade in present-day Serbia to Bar in present-day Montenegro. This is the first three hours of the trip, distilled down by an enormous factor into a... one hour episode. We get from Belgrade to Užice. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https:...
Aug 16, 2023•55 min•Ep. 179
This week, we're joined by two of the Dovetail Games team to talk all things train simulation... Matt Peddlesden (executive producer) and Joseph Rogers (brand manager for Train Sim World, WSR volunteer) will take us on an odyssey of discovery on how you research, develop and expand train simulation games! Join me and the Dovetail Games crew LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm to ask your questions! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose ch...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 178
HS2 has, once again, been in the news, now that the Infrastructure Projects Authority (not beer related) has said the project may be unachievable, which won't be news to viewers of course. Anyway, government has responded to the Transport Select Committee's IRP report, and several Yorkshire councils have published their proposals for getting HS2 trains up to Leeds and the North East. Basically, a bit of an HS2 update is required, so join LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm to get involved! Enjoyed this? Pl...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 177
This week #RailNatter is joined by the managing director of ScotRail - or rather, of Scotland's Railway, the alliance of organisations that run rail services in Scotland. That's right - Alex Hynes is joining us to talk about the direction that Scotland's railways are going in, balancing the needs of policymakers and operations, and what exactly the current structure of Scottish railway operations is. Join LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https:...
Jul 26, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 176
It's a news episode, and there's so much to catch up on... more HS2 mess, bad on-demand buses, the continuing demise of Translohr, the dreadful Odisha train crash in India, diminishing pay across the GB rail industry, and so much more. Join LIVE on Wednesday at 7pm. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis . Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch . Join in the discussion at https:...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 175
We've the delight this week of being joined by Emily Turner of @roundelroundwego to talk about railway and transport fandom, what it is, how some of its tropes can be off-putting, and how making it more inclusive is a bonus for everyone involved... Including industry itself. Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch at https://garethdennis.co.uk/merch. Join in the discussion at...
Jul 12, 2023•59 min•Ep. 174
In a very last minute change to the schedule, we are in fact going to do a good old fashioned #RailNatter Q&A on today's horrible news about ticket office closures. Get your ragey questions ready and join the show LIVE at 7pm to get stuck in! Useful RMT campaign page with all the various consultation links: https://www.rmt.org.uk/campaigns/rail/save-ticket-offices/ Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via http...
Jul 05, 2023•58 min•Ep. 174
