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

You'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

We're joined by Daisy from newly-formed ProCab Simulators as she tells us the tale of taking a bunch of bits, wires and programmes and turning them from a fire hazard into a working - and ACCESSIBLE - train cab that works with off-the-shelf train simulator games. It's a story of knowledge, networks, determination, ADHD and the rail industry stepping up!

Plus a bit of news that's worth catching up with, including Czech driverless trains and the Messina Strait.

To support Daisy's continuing projects, chip in £5 (10% goes to charity): https://pay.sumup.com/b2c/QL1DM76W

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

My visit to the New Hall at Locomotion in Shildon is FINALLY WITH YOU. See why I think this is the best bit of the whole railway museum, including York...

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