#Railnatter

With the help of journalist and author Samir Jeraj (@sajeraj on Twitter), this week's #RailNatter is looking at the collapse of Carillion, unpicking its impacts on the construction industry, and thinking about the wider societal effects of contractor dominance...

It's a fiddly subject, so feel free to bring along your own experiences and expertise to help out!

Listen to the @Trashfuture Podcast episode I nabbed from here: https://trashfuturepodcast.podbean.co...

Samir's project is for https://www.ecnmy.org/, and if you want to speak to him about your experience of the Carillion collapse, you can contact him over Twitter or at sa.jeraj [at] gmail [dot] com (email snarled for obvious anti-spam reasons).

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

Following yet another bout of Welsh politicians making stuff up about HS2, this #RailNatter is going to attempt to tackle the question head on: does Wales get any benefit from HS2? (YES IT DOES.)

Repeated claims to the contrary resurfaced again a week or two ago, and the worst thing isn't that saying as much is damaging for rail investment across the UK, it isn't that it is anti-expert, it is that by being patently untrue it greatly undermines the otherwise solid case for more devolved powers and funding for Wales. So stop repeating it!

Professor Mark Barry's blog (lots of good stuff on here as well as the less good HS2 stuff): https://swalesmetroprof.blog/

Professor Mark Barry's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH6xA...

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

In the first of a new #RailNatter sub-series, we'll be joined by Rebecca Wilks (@WilksBecca on Twitter) who is a reporter with The National to talk about Wales' Rhondda line and everything that is wrong with it...

We'll then try and work out some things that might help fix it in the longer-term - join LIVE to ask your questions and make your suggestions!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

Well, straight off the bat dear friend of the show Dr David Turner and I talk about quite a bit of the Victorian period too, so this title doesn't make much sense.

In any case, David joins the third of this year's #RailNatter holiday specials with a bundle of historic delights under his arm that we spread across a table and pore over in no particular order.

What did Christmas look like on Britain's railways in decades and centuries gone by? How did the railways respond to passenger demand over the festive season? Where did we get our trees from? All questions we'll ponder with the aid of the archives!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

Ever walked into a railway station, looked up, and thought "well, that looks delicious"? No? Well, after this year's second #RailNatter holiday special you certainly will...

Storyteller and writer Emily Turner and I go on a boozy tour of the world's most edible-looking railway stations so that you don't have to - and the results are a feast!

Listen to Roundel Round We Go: https://anchor.fm/roundel-round-we-go

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

It's the first of our three #RailNatter holiday specials, and this one is LIVE! For your entertainment, we are listing off The Official #RailNatter Top Ten Classic Railway Films and why I think this is the right order for them...

Do you agree or disagree? Are any films missing? Tune in and have your say!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

Last week I had the pleasure of travelling on the first scheduled passenger service through the newly grade-separated Werrington Junction with its impressive diveunder...

This week's #RailNatter shows you what I got up to, including not one but TWO cab rides, an outline of the physical works and an explanation of what the project achieves.

It's a pre-record, but do join the chat LIVE at 7pm on Wednesday!

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

With the impacts of the "Integrated" Rail Plan still not really having settled in, government also decided to release the final paper of their Union Connectivity Review... This week's #RailNatter is taking a look!

Given that Sir Peter Hendy - a man with the genuine best interests of the railway at heart and the nous to keep it alive - has put his name to the report, there is surely something useful in here? Right?

Join LIVE to find out - it's yet another classic page-turn!

Tickets for the LIVE, IN-PERSON show on the 22nd January can be bought here (limited numbers available!): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/railna...

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

In the aftermath of the Salisbury rail crash, this week's #RailNatter is looking at the impact of the lowly leaf... Why are these little crispy menaces such a danger to the railway and what are we doing about them?

Join LIVE to get involved and share your thoughts!

Download the documents I reference in this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6sajso7iootjzer/%23RailNatterEp90.zip?dl=0

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/railnatter (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!

It landed last week and it managed to be WORSE than the leaks had suggested - the Conservative government's Integrated Rail Plan cancelled the entire Eastern leg of HS2 and shredded the high speed line across the Pennines. Is there anything good in this document at all?

To find out, this dismal document needs to get the full #RailNatter page-turn treatment. I fear this one is going to be rowdy...

Join LIVE to share your thoughts and frustrations on Johnson's #RailBetrayal.

Watch me guesting on @BowlerHatMan's stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EgNJ...

Enjoyed this? Please do consider supporting #RailNatter at https://patreon.com/garethdennis or throw loose change at me via https://paypal.me/garethdennis. Join in the discussion at https://garethdennis.co.uk/discord.

Merchandise at https://masquette.co.uk/collections/r... (don't forget to use your discount code if you are a Patreon supporter)!