Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast

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 in...

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.

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 elevat...

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.

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 momen...

We're now at the end of the latest round of rail strikes by the train drivers’ union, Aslef, and so it's a good moment to look forward with some anticipation to the new rail options when the summer timetables come into effect on 2nd June.

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 informa...

Tens of thousands of airline passengers arriving at airports across the UK faced waits of several hours last night after another collapse of the eGates system that automatically check passports. The IT failure took over four hours to fix, during which time large queues built up.

This podcast is free, as is the travel newsletter from The Independent. Sign up for it here.

Hosted on Acas...

Once again I am at London Waterloo station reporting on another strike by members of the Aslef union. But as a third summer of strikes by train drivers belonging to Aslef begins, a glimmer of hope for an end to the conflict. Negotiations with rail firms could shortly resume after a year. Union boss Mick Whelan tells me a ‘relatively’ clean pay deal could end the dispute.

This podcast is free, as is the travel newsletter from The...

Thirty years ago Queen Elizabeth II and French president Francois Mitterand officially opened the Channel Tunnel between Folkestone in Kent and Calais in northern France. So how much has the link transformed travel – and what does the future hold? Unfortunately, it’s been a tale of broken promises so far in terms of direct services between the UK and Continental Europe. The only prospect of improvement: cutting costs and opening up...

I'm on the route of the (actually scheduled) Orient Express, 15 years after that legendary train last left Vienna to cross Germany into France overnight. My transport is an Austrian Railways Nightjet, destination Amsterdam and Hamburg. And I'm rather impressed ...

This podcast is free, as is the travel newsletter from The Independent. Sign up for it here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...