Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Much fanfare was made this week by transport secretary Grant Schapps about a competition to find a city to house the headquarters of The Great British Railways company. But what exactly is it? I take you through what the remit of the body is and what they'll be looking to do to help return Britain's rail industry to past glory.There's also an exciting exclusive about who the finalists will be for the race to be granted the headquarters, and why it's not such a competition after all...Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australia has announced the reopening of its borders to vaccinated tourists and other visa holders for the first time in almost two years. The reopening on February 21st does however have some things to be aware of - I talk you through what you need and what you need to be aware of as you make your way down under.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Motorists might have to pay by the mile in future, a cross-party Commons select committee has proposed as they see no "viable alternative" as a tax shortfall arises from the shift to electric vehicles that could be as big as £35bn. The committee has warned without urgent reform to taxation, the UK could face an under-resourced and congested future, with sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles set to be banned from sale from 2030 as part of the government's 2050 net zero plans. But will the public go for it?Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transport for London has announced in their latest financial update that the black hole in London's transport network has ballooned to £1.5 billion, mainly due to the pandemic. Just as London's network begins to show the strain of this, bosses are in a battle to get more money from the central government and are looking at a lot of different ways to claw back some of the money. Plans to introduce a road user charge, hike up council tax and extend a congestion charging zone will not be enough to balance the books, TfL board papers have revealed and talk of 'managed decline' as well as more off-the-wall plans such as closing tube lines for some days of the week are all being talked of. I take a look at what's going on.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryanair has failed in its attempt to overturn a court ruling that it must pay compensation to passengers affected by industrial action that dates back from an industrial dispute in 2018. Thousands of the airline's customers lost out when flights were cancelled in due to a series of walkouts in 2018 and today a court ruling has sided with the Civil Aviation Authority and say Ryanair must pay the compensation to travellers. But before you go planning on how to spend any potential windfall, I'll take you through what's next and remind you of your rights as a passenger, as well as discussing why this case shows the system isn't fit for purpose.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, the EU is altering its travel restrictions in two big ways. Firstly, it is recommending a change in how member states manage travel restrictions, and altering the focus to the individual, away from the region of departure. Secondly, all member states are shortening the validity of Covid-19 vaccination certificates to 270 days (nine months) across the bloc. Up to now, the EU has been recommending travel restrictions based upon the situation in the departure region, area or country. As of 1 February, it is recommending that these Europe travel restrictions be replaced with restrictions based upon the traveler’s situation.I take you through the new rules and what they mean in practice, while also explaining some of the inconsistencies still remaining in international travel.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain will soon have a new eco-tourism attraction, following news that the charity behind the Eden Project in Cornwall have been given planning permission by Lancaster City Council for the £125m Eden Project North. The charity hope to re-imagine Morecambe as "a seaside resort for the 21st century" with three shell-shaped pavilions on the seafront showcasing the natural world and everything that goes into making it.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grant Shapps has made a number of transport announcements. These have fallen during the ongoing controversy surrounding alleged parties held at 10 Downing Street, leading many to refer to these announcement as convenient 'dead cat' distractions. I go through each of them and what they mean for travellers. From less announcements on trains to updates on testing before travel.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss flew by private jet to Australia at a cost of over half-a-million pounds to the taxpayer, rather than using scheduled flights that would have been faster and far cheaper. Instead of travelling from London to Sydney on one of the daily Qantas departures, Ms Truss flew the 22,000 miles to, from and within Australia aboard the private government Airbus A321. The Ministerial Code makes clear that only the foreign secretary could authorise such a flight.In this episode, I talk about what Truss did, how I uncovered it and who's picking up the tab. (Clue, it's us taxpayers.)Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ghost flights, in which a plane completes a journey with no passengers on board, have always taken place. I take a look at the reasons why and how Covid has affected ghost flights.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.