Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Over the past few years, rail strikes have become as synonymous with Christmas as Mariah Carey and Wham! The incoming Labour government vowed to “move fast and fix things” in transport; ministers and officials quickly settled the train drivers’ dispute with a 15 per cent pay award covering three years. But stoppages are back for Christmas 2024 on the intercity network linking London Euston with the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland. Train managers belonging to the RMT union and working for Avanti West Coast will walk out on some of the busiest days of the year: Sunday 22, Monday 23 and Sunday 29 December.

A recent survey has revealed that the UK has the most expensive domestic trains in Europe. It does not compute for me.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday.

Today I'm looking back at the damage from Storm Darragh and Storm Burt to travel plans, and wondering if aviation and rail could be more resilient.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday.

I am at London Paddington station, hub for the Great Western Railway serving the West of England and South Wales. There's disruption to many trains here and elsewhere in the country due to the earlier failure of the Network Rail communications system, known as GSM-R.This is an embarrassment for the government in a week in which ministers have assured the public that train delays can only get better.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday.

I'm at the junction of Andrew Young International Boulevard and Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, which is a complete surprise to me because I'm supposed to be in London, England. Unfortunately Delta Airlines had different ideas.

I'm trying to make sense of the government's announcement of the first three train operators to be brought back into public ownership.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday.

I'm talking with Marion Geoffroy, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK, about the airline's operation at London Gatwick airport. The disruption on 22 November caused by a security scare was a headache for airlines and their passengers; Marion tells me about how the airline handled it. March 2025 will see the deployment of a new mid-to-long-haul aircraft for Wizz Air at Gatwick, which initially will serve Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition when they travel on holiday to our favourite foreign destination, but from today, the government in Madrid is expecting to collect a lot more data from travellers.This podcast is free, as is Independent Travel's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to have it delivered every Friday.

Untangling the red tape of global travel with Samantha McKnight, vice-president of Client Solutions for CIBTvisas in London.Subscribe to The Independent Travel newsletter. It arrives in your inbox every Friday, so make sure you're on the list here.