#Railnatter

In the second of what will definitely now be a three-part miniseries on Ireland, we are joined by Iain (anoniaino on Twitter!) to talk about the what Ireland's railways look like today... lining us up nicely for the next and final episode on what's next!

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Before the election, the UK Labour Party commissioned Juergen Maier to head a review into railways and urban transport strategy... And it was published literally today. So the hell with the original schedule, let's take a look and see if it proposes anything useful - and more importantly consider if it will be ignored by Rachel Reeves.

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In the first of (I think!) a two-part miniseries on Ireland, we are joined by Iain (anoniaino on Twitter!) to talk about the history of Ireland's railways and how we got to the system we have today.

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.

I DID IT. I WROTE A BOOK. And as an exclusive for all you lovely viewers, you can Q&A me about it and anything else you can think of in this week's #Railnatter... Plus we'll cover a bit of news off.

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.

Post election, it's worth taking a look at the National Audit Office's latest report into High Speed 2 and the mess the previous government made of it.

With a new Labour government picking up the divine right to rule from Murdochs, Platts and Gerkos of the world, we've been launched headlong into 2010 austerity again - but what does this mean for HS2? Might they pick any of it back up again?

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.

Back in Episode 49, we looked at the broad plans for mass transit across West Yorkshire, centred on Leeds. Now, mayor Tracy Brabin has launched the consultation for the first two proposed routes, between Leeds and Bradford and from central Leeds southwards.

Are these proposals any good? Are they ambitious enough? Will they achieve sufficient modal shift? Let's take a look together.

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Okay, so I've been teasing this for a while now, and at last it is here... We are going to spend this week's episode talking about what a FINISHED high speed rail network for the UK and Ireland would look like. Not shared lines, but dedicated high speed lines built from new.

How does HS2 fit in? How might it link with HS1? What about Greengauge 21s "X" network? Scotland? You better believe that there will be much in the way of maps and CAD! All comments welcome... This won't be the last of these episodes, I would guess.

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Everyone voted! The Conservative Party are toast! Labour got fewer votes than in 2019 and the era of two party politics in the UK is over...

But what does this mean for transport and railways? What do we think of the government appointments that are pertinent to transport? This one will mostly be a Q&A!

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Well, with only a week left to go before the UK 2024 general election, which of the relevant* parties' manifestos is best for transport? We'll get them up side by side and have a close look at what is promised, how it compares to previous years and what it all might mean for the future.

Transport is only one part of the picture, though - the most important stance of any party is its position on social issues, in particular on issues for the most vulnerable groups in society. Why? Because these tell us what is in the heart of the party and the lens through which it will see all other issues. So we'll end by looking at the stance of the parties on one of the most important issues of the day: trans rights. And the result will tell us all we need to know about which party will be best for the country's future.

*The Scottish Greens, SNP and Plaid are relevant, sadly there's no time to include them. Meanwhile, if it's blue, it sucks.

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It's a short one, and I'm off on wanderings for the first time in a while... I'm sharing some thoughts on early railways and the need to push back on the oversimplified narratives associated with the Stockton and Darlington Railway and 1825 as a false date of the "start" of railways.

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.