Green Signals

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: Website - http://www.greensignals.org Newsletter - http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list   Follow: X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/greensignallers LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd Instagram - https://instagram.com/greensignallers   Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

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: X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/greensignallers LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd Instagram - https://instagram.com/greensignallers   Credits: Presenters - Nigel Harris (@railnigel on X) & Richard Bowker CBE (@SRichardBowker). General Manager: Stef Foster (@stefatrail)

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: X (Twitter) - https://twitter.com/greensignallers LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd Instagram - https://instagram.com/greensignallers

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!

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!

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?

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.

Ministers seem unable to agree, either on transport decisions – or more embarrassingly – with each other at a Conservative Home conference. What is going on with LNER fares and ticketing? It’s now clear that its Simpler Fares trial is turning out to be anything but simple… Will HS2 now reduce capacity to Manchester? And is the wider world and mainstream media finally waking up to the true stupidity of Rishi Sunak’s scrapping of HS2 Phase 2a? Plus, a new Green Signals feature – positive and GOOD news from the grass roots railway, including the UK’s very first railway station railway library!

Why train ticket booking and rail fares in the UK are so confusing. With the help of fares expert The Man in Seat 61 Mark Smith, we demystify: LNER’s new Simpler Fares pilot The Great British Rail Sale Which? magazine’s report that railway ticket vending machines are twice as expensive as booking train tickets online How to buy the cheapest train tickets or get the best deal on train tickets We also cover: HS2 land safeguarding lifted north of Birmingham – has it struck a fatal blow to the high speed rail project? Northern Mayors Andy Burnham and Andy Street’s HS2 alternative and has Defence Secretary Grant Shapps just poured cold water on it before Mark Harper and Rishi Sunak have even heard what it is? Rail disruption in Network Rail’s Western region on 363 days out of 365 – is it really as bad as that?

Has Harry Potter’s favourite train the ‘Hogwarts Express’ hit the buffers now that Jacobite steam train operator West Coast Railways has been derailed by the ORR? Has Labour leader Keir Starmer bottled it on HS2? Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper responds to Richard’s letter on HS2… except that he doesn’t… And ASLEF announces yet more strikes. But are they working, and is it time to really ‘take the gloves off’?