#Railnatter

Hosted by Gareth Dennis

Technology HistoryInterviews guests

Website RSS feed

Episodes

309

Latest episode

May 2026

Language

About the show

The world's leading independent railway podcast. Join award-winning rail engineer Gareth Dennis and many guests talking about all things TRAINS and TRANSPORT. #Railnatter goes out LIVE every Wednesday at 8pm, UK time, with the audio podcast following on all common platforms.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

May 13, 202633 min

The post-election reality for Britain’s transport system | #Railnatter 308

Well, they did it. Labour got a drubbing and are in the process of collapsing. The Tories are nowhere. Reform are ascendant and the Greens are hot on their tails. But what does it mean for transport in Britain? What does it mean for GBR? We'll get stuck in, alongside a bit of news too.Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

May 6, 202655 min

The truth about local elections and public transport | #Railnatter 307

Westminster has always infantilised local elections, but local authorities are the most persistent interface between our lives and the functioning state, and this is absolutely true when it comes to transport.In this "local" election special, we'll dig into this relationship, talking with Nathan Goldup-John, first candidate in Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd and Charlotte Husnjak, second candidate in Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, to explore the relationship between local and devolved government and the scale of their ability to change how transport works for you.Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

April 29, 202659 min

Britain's Suburbs Are Broken, Here's The Solution | #Railnatter 306

This month, the Foundation for Integrated Transport released its paper on decarbonising suburban transport in Britain. Led by Jonathan Bray, it looks at the key challenges with providing adequate transport options to Britain's suburban communities, it picks out the main lessons we can learn from other cities that are way ahead of the UK on this, and makes a series of recommendations for the UK government.But are they enough? As ever, we'll dig in together to find out.For the wider, time critical, context, we are also joined for a look at the UK's transport decarbonisation plans - or lack thereof - with Professor Greg Marsden of Leeds ITS.Suburbs report here: https://integratedtransport.org.uk/new-report-decarbonising-suburban-transport-ways-of-thinking-and-actingGreg's overshoot report here: https://in-fuze.org.uk/overshoot-report/Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

April 22, 202653 min

The Secret to Fixing Britain's Railways | #Railnatter 305

What if we've been getting railway upgrades wrong for decades? What if big, grand, finite projects were about the worst way to deliver the change to transport Britain so desperately needs? By looking at what the Transpennine Route Upgrade is delivering in detail, including the latest look at some massive civil engineering, we'll ask ourselves: "What if the secret to modernising a nation’s infrastructure isn't a grand opening ceremony, but a series of tiny, invisible victories?"Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

April 15, 202647 min

This cheap fix will SOLVE rural travel | #Railnatter 304

Can the adoption of a Swiss taktfahrplan provide a blueprint for rural and regional transport in Britain?This is the question we'll be asking tonight, as we dig into the plans for the Hope Valley transport integration demonstrator, what £6M is paying for, and whether it can work. We'll also ask: what is a taktfahrplan? Why do these sorts of timetables matter and how would they fix things in the UK?Read the Hope Valley takt report: https://hopevalleyclimateaction.org.uk/plans-published-for-mini-switzerland-a-national-demonstrator-to-transform-rural-public-transport/Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

April 8, 202654 min

The BILLION POUND flaw on the Elizabeth Line | #Railnatter 303

Last week, the Campaign for Level Boarding published its letter to the Old Oak Common project endorsing a non-standard platform height. But what's that about? And how does it link to Crossrail's most expensive and damaging design flaw? Read the full Campaign for Level Boarding letter here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vs7rqv8utn1s9ne3kah36/CampaignForLevelBoarding_LetterRegardingOOC.pdf?rlkey=onqv8b9bk0qcslvn1unthfdwu&dl=1 Watch Philip explain the level boarding solution at OOC in more detail here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KryXjiUycZU Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

April 1, 202658 min

This train TRANSFORMED Britain’s railways | #Railnatter 302

This week we are talking about Network Rail's PLPR train - the incredible and now pretty experienced train that put machine learning into practice in a way that makes today's AI boosters look more like hucksters than they already are. Alex Cusdin joins us to talk through the train and its tech, and tell the story of how it came into being. Capturing an incredible 18TB of data a day, this train captures 70,000 photos a second to enable a very high resolution view of the track to automate and improve inspection, in the process making railways safer. This is an example, now well proven, of how technologies can be applied to make better use of skilled people, rather than displacing them. And it's about to be replaced. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

March 25, 202653 min

Talking GBR, cost of living and Iran with TSSA’s Maryam Eslamdoust | #Railnatter 301

In the first of a series of chats with political leaders who are shaping the mobility landscape in the UK, I was delighted to spend a long lunch with Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the TSSA. We talked about a range of subjects including union saturation into the consultancy world, the Iran war and its impacts on the cost of living, rail reform and GBR, as well as her current campaign on violence against transport workers. Join our chat in the TSSA office and on a multi-train adventure in East London - with extra bits to follow in the bonus. Head to Michael's @NetworkNewsUK for more on Liverpool Street station. Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

March 18, 20261 hr 18 min

Transport in Leeds isn't working | #Railnatter 300

10 hours, 22 locations and about 100 miles (probably) of travel later, and we've got a real feast of an episode to mark our 300th... Tonight, we rate ALL OF LEEDS for mobility using our patented science-based system: the PROCIV system. In doing so, we will consider the West Yorkshire mass transit plans and whether they are prioritising the right solutions. We'll also drop a few bombshells, not least a reminder how much was spent on a pointless new bypass for part of Leeds in 2025! Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

March 11, 202658 min

Can we end Britain's boom and bust problem? | #Railnatter 299

Back at the start of February, the UK's Transport Select Committee published its report into rail investment pipelines and how to end the boom and bust cycle that double prices and delays improvements... But is the report any good? Does it propose any useful solutions? Will government have any interest in doing anything it suggests? It's a classic page-turn, and you can grab the report yourself, here: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8739/rail-investment-pipelines-ending-boom-and-bust/publications/ Support #Railnatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis. Merch at https://merch.railnatter.uk. Join in the discussion at https://discord.railnatter.uk. You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways