#Railnatter

Now this one really is festive - and it will be live, so you are very much encouraged to bring along your favourite festive tipple... We're asking the big Christmas questions: should the railway shut down around Christmas, and should we concentrate the vast majority of our engineering works over a period when so many people make the sorts of trips the railway is perfectly placed to cater for, and at a time when weather and blood-alcohol levels are at their most dangerous?

Join LIVE to share your thoughts, ask your questions and generally try to hash out an answer... See you at 8pm!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at   / 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.

Gather round the hearth for the first of our (still live!) festive episodes... This time we are exploring the story of the Torksey Viaduct, a tale which navigates the intertwining histories of railway companies, engineers, bridge design, competency, Megawatt Valley and more besides.

Grab a mince pie, pour a port, and listen in!

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.

The UK government's "Plan For Drivers" didn't end up being as popular as they thought it might be... For a festive treat, this week's episode is doing a traditional page turn of what we at Natter Towers are sure is a well thought-through piece of long-term transport policy* - join us at the usual time to take a look for yourselves!

*we do not think this

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.

Lots of people have been asking for this one! You may notice I use a lot of maps and diagrams on here, on Twitter, and elsewhere too... People act surprised when I tell them I do them all in PowerPoint, because it is the best tool for the job in most cases!

To get a free, interactive tutorial via the medium of me making up a few maps on the hoof, join LIVE on Wednesday at 8pm... Suggestions are coming in via the Discord server (link below) for where those maps are, by the way, and the Bristol Metro is one of the favourites!

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.

The Department for Transport have stopped up the datafeed that gives us the UK's full rail passenger ridership, so instead we're going to take a whizz through the ORR's latest passenger rail usage report to give us a feel for what's going on, how demand is looking across rail operators, and what this means when we think about the future.

Join LIVE at 8pm on Wednesday!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at   / 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.

This week, friend of the show Zach joins us to talk about the tramways and railways of Jersey, what they looked like at their zenith and what became of them... We'll even have a stab at reckoning if there's a good case for bringing them back!

Join LIVE at 8pm on Wednesday!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #Railnatter at   / 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.

Two years ago, two Class 158 trains crashed into each other at Salisbury Tunnel Junction following an extreme storm.

This week, we'll read through the recently published RAIB report to understand what happened and why - vegetation management and low adhesion will be big themes...

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.

On the 3rd October 1983, the UK's first modern high speed line was fully opened between Doncaster and York...

Chris Valkoinen from the @NatRailwayMuseum contacted us to say he'd found a pile of technical drawings relating to the Selby Diversion and suggested we take a look - so that's precisely what this #Railnatter shall do in celebration of this momentous occasion!

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.

On the 5th November 1993 (remember, remember, etc) the Railways Act 1993 received royal assent, and the wheels were truly set in motion for the atomisation of British Rail... An event that would lead us right into the mess we have today.

To "celebrate" its 30th anniversary, I thought we'd have split tonight's show into two parts. The first will be a page-turn of the dismal white paper (New Opportunities For The Railways) co-authored by the @adamsmithinstitute and @hmtreasuryuk that gave us the industry structure we have today. The second will be a discussion of how we unpick the mess and how the next government should prioritise its fixing of Britain's railways.

Join LIVE on Weds at the new slot of 8pm!

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.

It's been ages since we've properly caught up with the news, so here's a massive run through of everything that has caught my eye since before I disappeared off on parental leave...

We'll be talking HS2 (again), Headbolt Lane, the Plan For Drivers, digging up the M8 in Glasgow, electric Class 08 shunters, Superloop, HS2, Station Hall, Harper's Tin Foil Hat and the imminent doom currently hanging over all of us.

Join the fun, LIVE on Weds at the new (possibly temporary) slot of 8pm - that's EIGHT O'CLOCK UK TIME!

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.