Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

Today's travel podcast is brought to you from the line that runs across the Pennines – the Settle to Carlisle railway. It threads through mighty landscapes and across viaducts, and you can make the journey as part of an Anglo-Scottish rail trip.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is this the future of travel money? The UK's first "cash to cash" ATM has been installed at Waterloo station in central London. I've been testing out the automatic foreign exchange terminal with Kaya Niedenthal, Director of International Payments at Currency Online Group.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm talking to Hilary Bradt, who is celebrating 50 years of publishing travel guides with her autobiography, Taking the Risk.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everybody has the same rights to travel... don't they? For those with severe food allergies, travel risks being complicated, expensive and even deadly.Just last week a 12-year-old girl with a peanut allergy and her family were thrown off a SunExpress flight from Gatwick to Dalaman, Turkey after the captain refused to ask other passengers not to eat nuts.Travel can be a tricky for those with such allergies. Here's my advice.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm looking at linear parks – effectively, old road or rail lines that are now green vectors for hikers and bikers. Some, like my location today, are in the middle of busy cities: I am in Seoul, South Korea, on a 1970s flyover that was threatened with demolition yet rescued and turned into a leafy, elevated walkway above the tumult of the city. New York has a similar option, the High Line, which has taken over a former elevated freight line in Manhattan.Two rail links now turned into cycle/walkways that I particularly like: Singapore's Rail Trail and the Great Western Greenway between Westport, Co Mayo and Achill Island in the west of Ireland.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What effect will the general election have on travel? It's Thursday, the 23rd of May, meaning that we are six weeks away from the next general election. What on earth has this got to do with the general election? Well, I will be studying the party's manifestos to see what they are going to do about, for example, airports and sustainable travel.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yesterday, the world was shocked by the news that a passenger had died following extreme turbulence on Singapore Airlines flight SQ321. The very sad episode was a reminder of the threat that turbulence can unfortunately have upon all flights - but can airlines do anything to mitigate the effects of such events?I take a look at what the industry guidelines currently are, and what may have to change to improve safety during moments of turbulence.This podcast is free, as is my weekly newsletter. Sign up here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clean, efficient, and amazing value for money. No, not me: the Seoul Metro system, which has some foibles but overall is an excellent and incredibly far reaching network.This podcast is free, as is the travel newsletter from The Independent. Sign up for it here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When choosing the optimum flight path gets tangled with geo-politics, the results are never positive. My report on the long and winding route from Zagreb to Seoul on the world's longest budget airline link.This podcast is free, as is the travel newsletter from The Independent. Sign up for it here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reporting from King's Cross, I explore the recent Commons debate on rail reliability. I offer my perspective on Labour's approach to rail reform and the challenges of improving UK rail services.This podcast is free, as is the travel newsletter from The Independent. Sign up for it here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.