This week's #RailNatter does what it says on the tin... I'll have spent the morning at a press session looking at the new modular station design that Network Rail and the UK Design Council have been developing alongside competition-winning architects 7N. Will it be successful? Is it any good in the first place? Where might we see the first example being built? Join LIVE (yes, not a pre-record as previously suggested) at 7pm on Wednesday! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 113
This week #RailNatter is joined by Professor Iain Docherty, Dean for the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Stirling and transport policy expert... Who better to tackle the subject of ScotRail's re-nationalisation? That's right! After exactly 25 years of private operation, ScotRail is back to being an entirely (rather than defacto) state owned and operated railway network. Is it all sunshine and roses, though, or does this mean that the Scottish government will start having to f...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 112
OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS The RAIB report from the Carmont rail crash has been released, and just as we worked our way through the interim report, this week's #RailNatter is taking a detailed look at the final report. What exactly happened that fateful day? What can we learn? What should we do to avoid it happening again? This is the third episode of this miniseries, and in it we look at a variety of contributing factors that increased the risk of the derailment happening and increased the cons...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 111
It only took a few weeks, but we've fallen hopelessly behind with The News again, which means we need a catch-up... So #RailNatter shall be filling us in with all the newsworthy stuff that has been going on in the transport and transport-adjacent world! Join in to share your thoughts, LIVE at the usual time! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis . Merch is at https://masquette.co....
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 110
CRISIS MANAGEMENT The RAIB report from the Carmont rail crash has been released, and just as we worked our way through the interim report, this week's #RailNatter is taking a detailed look at the final report. What exactly happened that fateful day? What can we learn? What should we do to avoid it happening again? This is the second episode of this miniseries, and covers the failure in crisis management and the broader impacts of climate change that led events to unfold as they did. Enjoyed this...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 109
For this week's #RailNatter , Harry Burr is joining us to talk about his experiences as a very young sustainable transport policy advocate who has already made waves across the Midlands... As the founder of Sustainable Transport Midlands, we'll talk about how he got into making policymakers pay attention, how he keeps himself engaged in an industry that can sometimes brush off the inputs of young people, and what he thinks might come next. Whilst you can tune in live at the usual time, actually ...
Mar 30, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 108
INTRODUCTION AND CDM REGULATIONS The RAIB report from the Carmont rail crash has been released, and just as we worked our way through the interim report, this week's #RailNatter is taking a detailed look at the final report. What exactly happened that fateful day? What can we learn? What should we do to avoid it happening again? In the first of this four-part miniseries, we'll introduce how the crash unfolded. We'll then look in detail at the failure of the drain, and the failure of the assuranc...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 107
This week's #RailNatter is looking for solutions rather than problems, and joining us is friend of the show Jon Stone (the Independent's policy correspondent)... Together we will be exploring why the UK *must* decentralise power to make public transport better! Do you have thoughts on devolution? Join LIVE (if a little late) to get involved in the discussion! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 106
Seeing as the RMT have been on strike following Grant Shapps' blatant attempt to undermine their bargaining power as part of his deal with Transport for London, it makes sense for this week's #RailNater to unpick one of the commonly repeated myths that the Department for Transport keep referring to: that driverless Tube trains are anything other than a #gadgetbahn fantasy. It'll be a pretty relaxed and open Q&A session, so bring your thoughts and queries! Enjoyed this? Please do consider support...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 105
With the IPCC having released its latest #ClimateReport this week, we'll take a quick look at the headlines then dig into Network Rail's latest climate adaptation report to see how global warming is impacting on railway infrastructure in England, Scotland and Wales. Join #RailNatter LIVE to ask your questions about climate, infrastructure and everything in between... Download the NR report here: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/sustain... Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at h...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 104
This week's #RailNatter is going to be a bit of a catch up on The News seeing as so much has been happening of late... The previously advertised episode shall follow next week! Join to have your say on everything that's been going on in the transport world, and let me know if I've missed anything! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis . Merch is at https://masquette.co.uk/collecti...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 103
Tonight, Jennifer Williams of the @Manchester Evening News joins us in #RailNatter towers to consider the context of the North's anger over the Integrated Rail Plan, how it fits into the broader failings of government's "levelling up" agenda, and whether the #RailBetrayal will stick... Join us live(ish) at the usual time! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Merch is at https://...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 102
Well, we did it. #RailNatter broke the ton. Consequently, I think it would be a good idea (after what is invariably going to be a long news segment) for us to take a look back at every episode we've done to remember the highlights and perhaps work out if there is any kind of #RailNatter manifesto emerging from all of this... Join LIVE to recall your favourite moments or indeed remind me of the bits where I messed up! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/...
Feb 09, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 101
Scaled down for COVID but aided by beer and gusto, #RailNatter 's first recording in front of a live audience also happens to be ITS 100TH EPISODE! Join us in Pivni as we wander through the ways to stop trains that have got away with themselves, punctuated by a variety of terminal calamities through recent British Rail history. Don't worry if you had hoped to get tickets - there'll be another live event in York later this year, with much more venue capacity... Watch this space! The ticket sales ...
Feb 02, 2022•54 min•Ep. 100
With the help of journalist and author Samir Jeraj (@sajeraj on Twitter), this week's #RailNatter is looking at the collapse of Carillion, unpicking its impacts on the construction industry, and thinking about the wider societal effects of contractor dominance... It's a fiddly subject, so feel free to bring along your own experiences and expertise to help out! Listen to the @Trashfuture Podcast episode I nabbed from here: https://trashfuturepodcast.podbean.co... Samir's project is for https://ww...
Jan 26, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 99
Following yet another bout of Welsh politicians making stuff up about HS2, this #RailNatter is going to attempt to tackle the question head on: does Wales get any benefit from HS2? (YES IT DOES.) Repeated claims to the contrary resurfaced again a week or two ago, and the worst thing isn't that saying as much is damaging for rail investment across the UK, it isn't that it is anti-expert, it is that by being patently untrue it greatly undermines the otherwise solid case for more devolved powers an...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 98
In the first of a new #RailNatter sub-series, we'll be joined by Rebecca Wilks (@WilksBecca on Twitter) who is a reporter with The National to talk about Wales' Rhondda line and everything that is wrong with it... We'll then try and work out some things that might help fix it in the longer-term - join LIVE to ask your questions and make your suggestions! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/g...
Jan 12, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 97
Well, straight off the bat dear friend of the show Dr David Turner and I talk about quite a bit of the Victorian period too, so this title doesn't make much sense. In any case, David joins the third of this year's #RailNatter holiday specials with a bundle of historic delights under his arm that we spread across a table and pore over in no particular order. What did Christmas look like on Britain's railways in decades and centuries gone by? How did the railways respond to passenger demand over t...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 96
Ever walked into a railway station, looked up, and thought "well, that looks delicious"? No? Well, after this year's second #RailNatter holiday special you certainly will... Storyteller and writer Emily Turner and I go on a boozy tour of the world's most edible-looking railway stations so that you don't have to - and the results are a feast! Listen to Roundel Round We Go: https://anchor.fm/roundel-round-we-go Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethde...
Dec 29, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 95
It's the first of our three #RailNatter holiday specials, and this one is LIVE! For your entertainment, we are listing off The Official #RailNatter Top Ten Classic Railway Films and why I think this is the right order for them... Do you agree or disagree? Are any films missing? Tune in and have your say! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis . Join in the discussion at https://gar...
Dec 22, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 94
Last week I had the pleasure of travelling on the first scheduled passenger service through the newly grade-separated Werrington Junction with its impressive diveunder... This week's #RailNatter shows you what I got up to, including not one but TWO cab rides, an outline of the physical works and an explanation of what the project achieves. It's a pre-record, but do join the chat LIVE at 7pm on Wednesday! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis ...
Dec 15, 2021•55 min•Ep. 93
With the impacts of the "Integrated" Rail Plan still not really having settled in, government also decided to release the final paper of their Union Connectivity Review... This week's #RailNatter is taking a look! Given that Sir Peter Hendy - a man with the genuine best interests of the railway at heart and the nous to keep it alive - has put his name to the report, there is surely something useful in here? Right? Join LIVE to find out - it's yet another classic page-turn! Tickets for the LIVE, ...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 92
In the aftermath of the Salisbury rail crash, this week's #RailNatter is looking at the impact of the lowly leaf... Why are these little crispy menaces such a danger to the railway and what are we doing about them? Join LIVE to get involved and share your thoughts! Download the documents I reference in this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6sajso7iootjzer/%23RailNatterEp90.zip?dl=0 Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me v...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 91
It landed last week and it managed to be WORSE than the leaks had suggested - the Conservative government's Integrated Rail Plan cancelled the entire Eastern leg of HS2 and shredded the high speed line across the Pennines. Is there anything good in this document at all? To find out, this dismal document needs to get the full #RailNatter page-turn treatment. I fear this one is going to be rowdy... Join LIVE to share your thoughts and frustrations on Johnson's #RailBetrayal . Watch me guesting on ...
Nov 24, 2021•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 90
This week is a bad week for Britain's railways, but thankfully this week's #RailNatter comes the day BEFORE we get to read just how bad it is (we'll page-turn it next week)... Nevertheless, it gives us a chance to look at High Speed 2 again, and to understand why the eastern leg between Birmingham, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, Leeds and the North East is its most important section. Hate HS2? Come and tell me why and I'll tell you why you are probably wrong... In any case it's another Q&A ...
Nov 17, 2021•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 89
Tim is back! With only one episode remaining in Series 3, Britain's most effervescent ferroequinologist Tim Dunn be joining us on this week's #RailNatter to look back on 30 episodes of #TheArchitectureTheRailwaysBuilt , with behind the scenes pictures, bonus footage and some seriously saucy Bekonscot Model Village chat. Join the two of us LIVE at 7pm on Wednesday to throw us your questions and get in on the fun! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garet...
Nov 10, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 88
It's #COP26 , and (in a slight change to the schedule) this week's #RailNatter is going all green, as we have an open session talking about climate change and the different ways in which railways can play a major part in reducing GHG emissions. It's a LIVE Q&A, so bring your questions and thoughts and we'll see what we can hash out together! You can find the new merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... , and don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter! En...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 87
We've the pleasure of Jonn Elledge's company again tonight, as we both flick through a few of the old Crossrail proposal documents for a laugh, and as a way to distract ourselves from the dismal budget announcements... When did the name come about? When was it got rid of again? How many serious route options have been considered? Where might the stations have been if not where they are now? All questions we may or may not answer! Join LIVE to ask your questions and join in on the fun! Jonn's exc...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 86
This week, The Architecture The Railways Built took a brief look at the Selby Diversion... So obviously, given that it is a thing I never seem to shut up about on Twitter, this is the perfect excuse to do a #RailNatter on why High Speed One *isn't* the UK's first high speed line. It's a live episode, so tune in at 7pm on Wednesday to ask all your questions! Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.m...
Oct 20, 2021•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 85
I'm in a work whirlwind this week, so how better to unwind than to **checks notes** relive past trauma and tell you all about how whole-route gauge clearance projects work? Through the lens of a reasonably recent project, this week's #RailNatter will be a sample of my day job through the lens of the Yorkshire Terminals Gauging project, looking at how it resulted in a clear path for the largest* container trains between Doncaster and Leeds. Join LIVE at 7pm on Wednesday! *actually, W12 doesn't qu...
Oct 13, 2021•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 84
