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© 2023 Gareth Dennis
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Join railway engineer and writer Gareth Dennis plus a wide range of guests on his semi-topical weekly talk show about all things rail...
This podcast is uploaded after the live (or live-ish) show has finished on YouTube at 8pm (UK time) on Wednesdays.
This podcast is uploaded after the live (or live-ish) show has finished on YouTube at 8pm (UK time) on Wednesdays.
293 Episodes
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Have you heard of Lillian "Curly" Lawrence? Get comfy for a story of genius, wit, charm and tragedy - and of a transgender woman who shaped the model railway scene perhaps more than any other individual.
We'll also touch on LGBTQIA+ history more broadly, dipping into the Railway Museum's oral archives as well as looking at existing exhibits through a different lens.
Here's a link to the project: https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/research-and-archive/people-pride-and-progress
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
On Sunday, two trains collided near Adamuz in Spain in an appalling, extremely unlikely and hugely tragic crash, which so far has claimed the lives of 40 people. Enough detail has been released that we can plot out how the two trains derailed with reasonable confidence - and that's what we'll do, using photos and video from the scene.
Rob and Jamie from Podcasting Is Praxis drop in to explore the aftermath of the crash, and how knowing what the derailment looked like doesn't really answer any of the questions over its cause. We also cover a bit of news.
Listen to Praxiscast: https://praxiscast.podbean.com/
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
Northern Powerhouse Rail has been announced by government, again, and this time what's being proposed is even more nebulous than last time... If we ignore Network North, that is. We dig into the details to understand what is being promised, what is new (if anything) and what we've been left since the 2020 high point in UK railway aspirations.
Read the full government release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/northern-growth-strategy-case-for-change/northern-growth-strategy-case-for-change#northern-powerhouse-rail
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
On 6 September 2024, a freight train derailed over a bridge in Audenshaw in Greater Manchester. At the end of 2025, the RAIB published their report into the crash, looking in detail at the sequence of failures that let to this event. It lays out a series of mistakes and engineering limitations that force us to look more closely at the way we run our railway and train our engineers.
Download the @railaccidentinvestigationb7617 report here: https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/report-10-slash-2025-derailment-of-a-freight-train-at-audenshaw
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
We've reached the end of 2025! It's been an extremely difficult year across the board, with some points of light dotted around for nourishment, but I wanted to end with some hope. Also with a bridge collapsing on my head.
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
Merry Christmas! Raise a glass to all the folk out there this holiday season prodding, building and generally messing about with railways in the freezing cold.
It's a brief, last minute news filler episode really - and we'll cover a few things including West Yorkshire mass transit delays, two Slovak trains playing chicken on the same track and negging the IEA.
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
This week I'm delighted to say that we are joined by Poggy Murray Whitham joining us to talk about moving from the technical to the human side of engineering, abuse, threats, hate - and how to overcome them by thinking about psychological safety as rigorously as we think about physical safety. Last time we spoke was in "my" tent at Rail Live, so I've been looking forward to this!
Pick up Poggy's book here: https://www.poggymurraywhitham.com/
Watch the TEDx talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUKPnUUS9oA
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
They did it! Or rather, they did... something! The "new" identity of Great British Railways was released yesterday to noises resembling moisture purped through polyester. Alas, it wasn't the wondrous fanfare this ailing government were expecting, but it also isn't a total disaster.
Plus it's a whoops all news episode - and who better to join than long time friend of the show, @JenOnTheMove!
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
York is broken - traffic is knackered and the city, with its wonderful medieval core and rivers, barely reaches a fraction of its potential as a result.
It turns out there's a fix though - and it involves LEARNING FROM OTHER PLACES! Shock/horror/etc.
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
Chris Brownbill (https://railmaps.com.au/) has taken over! With Melbourne's Metro Tunnel - their Crossrail - opening this weekend, it is as good a time as any to get to know Melbourne's public transport that bit better...
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
It's time for the PWI (the Permanent Way Institution) - my beloved professional institution, the best of the lot, and one I'm immensely proud of - to change its name. And you can make it happen.
Find out more at: https://www.thepwi.org/about/our-next-chapter
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
We need a laugh (?) so this week we are going through a report written by Professor John Hibbs for the IEA (the bad one) nearly twenty years ago, and twenty years after Britain's buses were deregulated outside of London and proceeded to be completely decimated, where they weren't engaging in outright urban combat.
In its pages, we see why he and the IEA maniacs think that deregulation was great, and why moving away from it would be a disaster. As the architect of deregulation, Hibbs was (RIP) a dangerous, dogmatic extremist who has caused untold misery to millions, but reading this will be extremely funny because what he has written is extremely and obviously stupid and his elevation makes a mockery of academic transport "science". Hahahaha (cries).
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
Yesterday, the UK Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander deposited the Railways Bill in the House of Commons. Does this actually mean anything? Not yet, not least as quite a lot of important stuff about the future of Britain's railways isn't in this document at all, but it does help clarify the direction of travel, if not the destination.
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
Back in June the Stewart Review suggested a series of reasons why Britain's embryonic domestic high speed railway line was tripping over its shoelaces. Today, we dig into that report, with the usual useful context on its author and its subject matter.
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
1You've been asking for this one for a long time - YES, the airports episode is finally here! Which of the UK's 32 mainland airports (including on the island of Ireland) deserve to survive into the 2040s, and which must CLOSE? Tune in to find out!
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
A city I love and have travelled to many times for a decade now - Belgrade is a melting pot of culture, art and architecture, food and fun. And yet it is being poisoned by corruption, greed and car dominance. The result is a dying city - and a warning to the UK, given our cities are taking exactly the same trajectory.
(don't worry about the hallelujah chorus after the Graun extract slides)
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
Following a wee hiatus from host knackeredness syndrome, we're back! And we're returning to our roots by talking all about British Rail's Advanced Passenger Train, and the corporate nonsense that took APT's tilting technology via about a dozen legal entities to slap it straight into the replacement Acela fleet this year! We also answer the question: was the Pendolino just the APT sold back to us?
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
In the second of our episodes focusing on disabled travel, we look at NCAT's latest report on the overall picture for accessible transport in the UK. It's not a rosy picture.
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
With ScotRail announcing that their new fleet procurement will include level "access" as well as a key report being published on progress with transport accessibility, it's the right time to revisit Episode 31 and see what progress has been made - and it is actually good news!
Disability ARK links here: https://linktr.ee/disabilityark
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
We're back! And we're doing some classic network analysis, this time for Devon and Cornwall. I knew this one would be hard, but making this network make sense is extremely tricky! In any case, we'll list off 10 railway projects the region needs, think about why and what they might look like in more detail.
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
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