Lessons from history: improving UK railways for passengers episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 10, 2022 · 30 MIN

Lessons from history: improving UK railways for passengers

from Best of the Spectator

The UK has recently lifted almost every Covid restriction and with that, thousands of commuters will return to their offices. Will those memories of delays, cancellations, costly tickets and overcrowding come back to haunt the commuter? Most of the problems are linked to the patchwork of Victorian infrastructure that has struggled to meet the demands of the modern-day passenger. With grandstanding projects like Hs2 dominating the headlines, is this the kind of investment that's best spent for the consumer? And with other issues on the rise, such as extreme weather conditions, inflation and flexible working patterns, how will the industry prepare itself?  Joining Kate Andrews for this Spectator Briefings podcast is writer, broadcaster and specialist in railways, Christian Wolmar, Caroline Donaldson who is the managing director of West Coast Partnership Development. Finally, Wendy Morton, the Rail Minister at the Department for Transport. This podcast is kindly sponsored by West Coast Partnership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK has recently lifted almost every Covid restriction and with that, thousands of commuters will return to their offices. Will those memories of delays, cancellations, costly tickets and overcrowding come back to haunt the commuter? Most of the problems are linked to the patchwork of Victorian infrastructure that has struggled to meet the demands of the modern-day passenger. With grandstanding projects like Hs2 dominating the headlines, is this the kind of investment that's best spent for the consumer? And with other issues on the rise, such as extreme weather conditions, inflation and flexible working patterns, how will the industry prepare itself?  Joining Kate Andrews for this Spectator Briefings podcast is writer, broadcaster and specialist in railways, Christian Wolmar, Caroline Donaldson who is the managing director of West Coast Partnership Development. Finally, Wendy Morton, the Rail Minister at the Department for Transport. This podcast is kindly sponsored by West Coast Partnership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Lessons from history: improving UK railways for passengers

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The UK has recently lifted almost every Covid restriction and with that, thousands of commuters will return to their offices. Will those memories of delays, cancellations, costly tickets and overcrowding come back to haunt the commuter? Most of the...

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