Green Signals

By Green Signals ProductionsNews News Commentary

Green Signals episodes

March 21, 2024 25. Department for Transport good news… (finally!) & Heritage railways under threat
The Department for Transport appoints Scotland’s Railway
Managing Director Alex Hynes as its new Director General of the Rail Infrastructure and Service Delivery Group, giving us a ray of hope for the first time, which leads us on to…

Richard spilling the beans on a hitherto unknown exchange that took place during the Rail Review 2004 – and why we must heed the lessons on history.

Auditors question the going concern status of the North
Yorkshire Moors Railway and we ask whether the sector is slipping into real crisis?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been at it again with his
private jets.

The M25 closes for a weekend… and we ask whether National Highways has done any media training lately!

Richard experiences train tickets and rail fares madness
first hand…

And Marylebone station celebrates 125 years. Not bad
considering it nearly became a coach park.
Green Signals:
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Credits:
Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)
55 min
March 14, 2024 24. Budget 2024 analysis for rail, NAO slaps DfT, which decides to reorganise...
We examine what the railway got from last week’s budget with a bit of Budget 2024 analysis… spoiler alert – nothing that hasn’t already been announced!

The National Audit Office (NAO) report into the Department for Transport’s Rail Transformation Programme is not flattering – we discuss why five of the high level benefits have been rated RED.

The Department for Transport reorganises again. Is it just
another example of rearranging the deckchairs, or should we be worrying that the DfT is trying to take an even tighter grip on the railway?

And Grand Union is granted open access rights for a new
service from London Euston to Stirling from 2025. But Richard is not happy about it…
50 min
March 07, 2024 23. Are train tickets too expensive? Train fares increase 4.9%
Train tickets just got more expensive… Rail fares go up by 4.9% sparking fury amongst passenger groups. Has the time come to reconsider the balance between fares and subsidy?

Rail Minister Huw Merriman and driver’s union ASLEF are at loggerheads again – and a resolution seems as far away as ever.

Our adventures on Great Western Railway begin with the launch of our Pullman dining video (https://youtu.be/6fHub4_Vkb0?si=fsZMeiqBndjWFc_Z) and plenty more to look forward to.

HS2 Limited delivers 1 million tonnes of construction material – by train of course!
Green Signals:
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Credits:
Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)
46 min
February 29, 2024 22. Is Local Transport Fund really levelling up? And the surprising human factor we don't talk about
Local leaders are to receive £4.7 billion to transform transport in the North and Midlands through the Local Transport Fund – money that has apparently been reallocated from HS2. But is there a catch?
Why has the Government still not committed to Northern
Powerhouse Rail? Henri Murison, Chief Executive of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership joins us to discuss!
Avanti West Coast talk about what they are doing for women,
and we hear from an expert on what more the whole industry needs to do.
The countdown to the return of rail services to Levenmouth is
on.
And… Florence the HS2 TBM (tunnel boring machine) completes
her 10-mile journey under the Chilterns.

Green Signals:
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Credits:
Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)
59 min
February 28, 2024The Big Interview - Rail Reform: Why this time it's different! With Network Rail Boss Andrew Haines
Network Rail Chief Executive Andrew Haines joins us to talk all things draft Rail Reform Bill. If you’ve been left with all sorts of questions after the Department for Transport’s recent announcement, watch this and you’ll be much clearer afterwards!
We talk about:
Is the Great British Railways (GBR) brand going to be the name of the new Integrated Rail Body or will it die as some have been suggesting?
And indeed, will the Network Rail brand disappear too?

What chance is there of getting this into legislation before the General Election?

Why has it taken so long to get to this point?

Is the Government serious about this or are they just throwing a curve ball to Labour?

Why so much emphasis on the role of the private sector

Rail franchising

Presumably Department for Transport staff will transfer to GBR?

How are we going to change the culture?

Bringing track and train closer together

Is a ‘guiding mind’ what we really need?

How do people know that rail reform is really going to stick this time?

Summary – and Andrew’s closing comments that you really don’t want to miss!

Green Signals:
Website - http://www.greensignals.org
Newsletter - http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list

Follow:
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Credits:
Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard
Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)
48 min
February 22, 2024 21. Labour vs Tories on railways & is there any point to Rail Reform Bill?
The Department for Transport finally publishes the Rail
Reform Bill, but is there any point to it?

Nigel reviews the annual George Bradshaw address which saw
two senior rail politicians go head-to-head. But who came out on top?

Avanti West Coast are in the national news again thanks
largely to ASLEF – but has the union overstepped the mark this time?

And Richard has been in the firing line over his comments on
the ‘Reversing Beeching’ plans. But, being Richard, he’s fighting back!

Green Signals:
Website - http://www.greensignals.org
Newsletter - http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list

Follow:
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56 min
February 15, 2024 20. 'Reversing Beeching': Anything achieved?
Richard talks about his visit to Wales & Borders with Nick Millington MBE, Route Director at Network Rail and finds out about lagoons, climate models and vegetation control. In particular Richard is amazed at the complex multi-agency approach to securing ecology licences and concludes, perhaps controversially, that it's time to let Network Rail self certify. After all, they can do it with safety critical matters so why not when it comes to clearing dying or dead Ash trees?
Nigel and Richard then discuss Richard Beeching's famous report of the 1960s and in particular, the Government's proposals, announced four years ago, to reopen lines and stations closed by Beeching through the Restoring Your Railway fund. We ask whether it has achieved anything (and the conclusion is very little) but then Nigel really sets Richard's "Victor Meldrew" going by talking about the Borders Railway to Carlisle and the possible reopening of the Peak District line through Bakewell and Monsal Dale.
Along the way Nigel & Richard discuss how to decide whether something is strategic (they have a different view), what Confirmation Bias means (and why it's an issue) and how on earth anything is going to happen when the cost for a new station at Devizes alone was looking like it could hit £65m!
44 min
February 13, 2024 The Railway Explained: Weather resilience, climate change & lineside trees
Richard Bowker visits Network Rail's Wales and Western region to spend the day with Route Director Nick Millington MBE.
It's a fascinating day of learning about the challenges of weather resilience on Britain's railways, the devastating effects of climate change, the complexities of managing trees and vegetation on the lineside... and surprisingly, about dormice.
How does Network Rail manage flood risk?
How are trees on the railway managed?
What rules are there to protect habitats adjacent to the railway?
This is the first in a new series of podcasts from Green Signals where we seek to share knowledge and expertise from around the railway and, hopefully, to explain some of the things that many people don't know that much about!
29 min
February 08, 2024 19. Government scores 0/10 on HS2 & Labour eyes rail nationalisation
Following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s scrapping of HS2 Phase 2A, HS2 is branded ‘very poor value for money’ by the Public Accounts Committee…
And... is Labour about to unveil its plans for its own vision of rail nationalisation, and is it back to the bad old days of curly
sandwiches?
43 min
February 06, 2024 18. The Big Interview - Train strikes: Finding the truth behind the headlines - with ASLEF boss Mick Whelan
Train strikes have hit the headlines frequently over the past three years as an increasingly bitter dispute between train drivers’ union ASLEF and the government and train operating companies continues.
Our Big Interview guest is ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan. We find out how the rail strikes began in the first place and what has happened since… And, crucially, what it will take to end the long-running disruption to passengers.
1 hr 12 min

About Green Signals

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Green Signals is a show about railways - its politics, its economics, its people and history. We turn over the issues of the day and talk to the people making the decisions that affect all our lives.…