#Railnatter

#Railnatter Episode 240: What we must learn from the Grenfell Tower disaster

In what I expect to be a sobering but incredibly important episode, we will be picking up the Phase 2 Report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
We'll go through the events leading up to the disaster, and the many chances we had to avoid it happening. We'll look at the role of government, of the various building and housing regulators, of the private interests in testing and marketing the cladding products, and of the tenant management organisation. We'll also look at safety management and the oversight of the refurbishment project, as well as the response to the disaster. Lastly, we'll look at the recommendations to see which ones directly and indirectly apply to transport and the rail industry. I've no doubt there will be a lot to learn.
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.
You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://bit.ly/HowTheRailways

#Railnatter Episode 239: Vancouver's SkyTrain and what we can learn from it

I'm delighted to say we're joined this week by genuine Vancouverite Cariad Heather Keigher, who takes us on a tour of the SkyTrain and the messy history that created it. Don't worry though - it's actually very good!
We chart the fall of the interurbans and the rise of this not-a-gadgetbahn system as it grew across the city, and consider what's next in store for Vancouver. There's a lot for us to learn, positive and negative, and it's all wrapped up in this week's 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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.
You can also buy my book #HowTheRailwaysWillFixTheFuture: https://repeaterbooks.com/product/how-the-railways-will-fix-the-future-rediscovering-the-essential-brilliance-of-the-iron-road/

#Railnatter Episode 238: How a Sheffield Crossrail would boost South Yorkshire

Okay, so if by Crossrail we mean high capacity suburban rail - yes. And in this episode we'll look at exactly what that might look like for Sheffield and the wider South Yorkshire area. There will be maps!
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 237: Bad budget, worse election (it's a news ep/struggle sesh)

We've an awful lot of news to get through, not least the horrible budget from last week and the dismal election results in the US announced today.
Those big stories aren't all of what we'll cover, though. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on that's worth us all talking about together!
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 236: Are cars really the future of green transport? (NO!)

In October 2024, the supposedly left-leaning Resolution Foundation released a report into the role of electric cars and public transport in reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions to zero.
The report was... awful. And in this episode, we'll pick through why via a traditional page-turn!
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 235: Ireland's railways 3. What about the future?

In the third of our three-part miniseries on Ireland, we are joined by Iain (anoniaino on Twitter!) to talk about the what Ireland's railways are facing in the future! We've thought about the past and about what the issues are today, now we think about what is planned for the future, and if it is good enough!
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 234: Britain's dismal rail tickets

I'm delighted that Jack Fifield (formerly of the Bolton News) is joining us to talk about his story on Northern's ridiculous and damaging revenue protection policies, but also the wider mess that Britain's railway ticketing system is in, and ultimately how difficult a lack of investment in ticketing outside of London is making people's lives.
It's a story of how much we get wrong as an industry, and of Britain's over-centralisation, and of annoying people who think all this is fine and the fault of travellers. Perfect #Railnatter fodder!
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

#Railnatter Episode 233: Changing the UK's useless fiscal rules

We've been decrying the fact that the UK has crippled its own economy by imposing its own made up and entirely useless fiscal rules - in other words the rules on what it can and cannot borrow, and for what - for a long time. But the Office of Budget Responsibility (itself also pointless) has published a report suggesting these should change.
Will they? Why might this government finally change them? Will this definitely be good? Tune in LIVE to find out!
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://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.