9. Scotland: Are they showing us the way?

This time, we’re heading north of the border with special guest Alex Hynes (Managing Director, Scotland’s Railway) to find out why they seem to keep getting it right on railways in Scotland when the rest of the UK struggles. We talk alignment of track and train, the Sleeper, and rolling stock. Richard Bowker puts his cynical accountant’s hat on to question the gamble Scotland has taken to scrap Peak fares for a six-month trial period. And we find out how Scotland is responding to one of its biggest challenges – resilience in the face of climate change. Away from Scotland, we pay tribute to the late Alistair Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish and former Secretary of State for Transport, who died shortly before we recorded this episode.