Rail and Road Pod

Sep 20 2024 24 ep. 20 mins 19
Rail and Road Pod Podcast artwork

The official Office of Rail and Road podcast brings together a series of conversations to discuss issues impacting all aspects of Britain's railways and England's road network. Twitter: @railandroad. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.orr.gov.uk

  News  Business  Society & Culture
RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Episode 24: Holding National Highways to Account

Sep 20 2024 12 mins  
We speak to Rachel Gittens, Deputy Director for Strategic Road Network, and Iain Ritchie, Head of Safety and Performance, to learn more about ORR's recent annual assessment and investigation of National Highways.

Episode 23: Chief Inspectors of Railways special edition

Jul 10 2024 19 mins  
In this episode we join a conversation between Ian Prosser CBE, who recently retired as Chief Inspector of Railways, and his successor Richard Hines. Ian takes a look back at the successes and challenges during his 15 years in the role and offers advice to Richard, who also shares what he expects to achieve in his new role.

Episode 22: Rail Passenger Experience - targeting improvements

Feb 23 2024 22 mins  
In this podcast Jacqui Russell, the head of our Consumer team, and Matt Westlake, who leads on accessibility matters, will both provide an insight into the recent work of their team who review the many aspects of the rail passenger experience. They also look ahead to a busy 2024.And Dr Ralitsa Hiteva talks about the value of her involvement with ORR's Consumer Expert Panel.

Episode 21: Authorisations - giving the green light

Dec 08 2023 14 mins  
New, major, upgraded or renewed infrastructure and rolling stock applicants have to follow a framework and seek an authorisation from the ORR before placing the infrastructure or rolling stock into service.In this podcast we'll learn about the path to applying for authorisation and the role the ORR plays to help the applicants, such as those who oversaw the upgraded Gatwick Airport

Inside Highways UK 2023

Nov 01 2023 10 mins  
Highways UK brings together the people responsible for managing, maintaining, and future-proofing the nation's road networks. Over the course of the two-day event our roads team discussed areas including our Annual Assessment of National Highways and the next Road Investment Strategy, RIS3. In this podcast we catch up with:Feras Alshaker, ORR director of planning and performanceNic

Episode 19: Trainee inspectors - making the grade

Oct 04 2023 18 mins  
In this episode, we take a look at the journey taken by a trainee inspector of railways at the Office of Rail and Road. We speak to two current trainee inspectors, an ORR inspector who explains what is needed to make the grade and Ian Prosser, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Railways, gives his advice to those taking their first steps.Find out more about our safety work. Contact

Episode 18: Britain's heritage railways - improving safety in the sector

Jun 28 2023 11 mins  
In this episode, we take a look at the safety work we do in the heritage sector.Simon Barber, our principal inspector of heritage, and Richard Hines, our deputy chief inspector of non-mainline, discuss the frequent occurrences of working-at-height accidents, how the sector can benefit from the Risk Management Maturity Model, co-operation with the Heritage Railway Association and wh

Episode 17: ORR Chief Executive John Larkinson discusses rail reform at Accelerate Rail

Mar 30 2023 10 mins  
In this episode, Chief Executive, John Larkinson discusses ORR's role in rail reform.Recorded at the Accelerate Rail event in London on 21 March, John explains how rail reform and the implementation of Great British Railways will lead to significant change at ORR. He goes on to describe how things will need to be done differently because of a much bigger role for the organisation.

Episode 16: Railway staff safety: learning from our past

Dec 21 2022 31 mins  
In this episode we discuss the Railway Work, Life & Death project, which takes a look back at railway worker accidents in Britain and Ireland from the late 1880s to 1939. We're joined by Dr Mike Esbester, a senior lecturer in history at the University of Portsmouth. The Office of Rail and Road has been pleased to be able to help the project, which is a joint initiative between

Ep 15: Inside Highways UK

Nov 30 2022 7 mins  
In this episode we're out and about at the Highways UK event which took place at the NEC in Birmingham. We hear from John Larkinson, Chief Executive of ORR, Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Transport Focus, and Nick Harris, Chief Executive, National Highways. They discussed smart motorways as part of a panel discussion during the event. Also from ORR, you'll hear from Sneha Patel, D