Railway Conversations with Doc Frank
Episodes
The BIG Railway Outlook with Steve Allday
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank talks to Steve Allday, a renowned and experienced railway consultant from Sydney and regular guest on the show. They talk about three key to...
#102 - High Speed Rail in Australia with Tim Parker
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank talks to Tim Parker, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian High Speed Rail Authority. The conversation addresses various points of criti...
#101 - Disrupting the ETCS Supply Market with Stanislas Pinte
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank talks to Stanislas Pinte from "The Signalling Company" which set out to address shortcomings in the fitment of locomotives and tra...
#100 – Metro Rail Wisdom with Oliver Fried
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Oliver Fried from Sydney, Australia, about Metros but also about High Speed Rail and the common topics between them. Learn how Sy...
#99 – Making ETCS Interoperable with Xavier Ricco and Jean-Francois Verdin
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank teams up with two experts on ETCS interoperability testing from Belgium. Learn about practical problems with ETCS interoperability in Europe...
#98 – A “Talk About Nothing” with Matthew Rea
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Matthew Rea from England where people need to be careful what they can say publicly these days. This difficulty to find discussab...
#97 – Transport Planning Masterclass with Gary McGregor (Part 3)
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Gary McGregor from Sydney in Australia, a seasoned transport strategist who was involved in developing key planning documents sha...
#96 – Transport Planning Masterclass with Gary McGregor (Part 2)
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Gary McGregor from Sydney in Australia, a seasoned transport strategist who was involved in developing key planning documents sha...
#95 – Transport Planning Masterclass with Gary McGregor (Part 1)
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Gary McGregor from Sydney in Australia, a seasoned transport strategist who was involved in developing key planning documents sha...
#94 – Procurement Talk with Louise Hart (Part 3)
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Louise Hart from Sydney in Australia, an internationally renowned book author and specialist on governance and procurement of meg...
#93 – Procurement Talk with Louise Hart (Part 2)
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Louise Hart from Sydney in Australia, an internationally renowned book author and specialist on governance and procurement of meg...
#92 – Procurement Talk with Louise Hart (Part 1)
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Louise Hart from Sydney in Australia, an internationally renowned book author and specialist on governance and procurement of meg...
#89 – How to Improve Project Outcomes with Peter Colacino
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Peter Colacino from Sydney in Australia. Peter gives us a deep insight into his model for improving projects, covering collaborat...
#88 – Getting Big Things (Projects) Done with Andy Harrison
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Andy Harrison from London about project management lessons learned, referring to insights from the excellent book “How Big Thin...
#91 - Innovation in Project Delivery with Andy Harrison
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special from the previous podcast episode 88 with Andy Harrison and discusses ideas how to transform project delivery methods for groundbrea...
#87 – Assurance Made Easy with Andy Petrie
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Andy Petrie from Sydney in Australia. Andy specialises in Systems Safety Assurance but what is even more exciting is his passion ...
#90 - ETCS Interoperability in Australia with Andy Petrie
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This clip is part of a longer episode with Andy Petrie from Sydney in Australia which was broadcast in full as episode 87.Interoperability of digital ...
#86 – More Success Drivers for High Speed Rail with Sean Connolly
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second part of the conversation between Doc Frank and Sean Connolly where they talk about guiding principles and success drivers for High ...
#85 – Success Drivers for High Speed Rail with Sean Connolly
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank and Sean Connolly talk about guiding principles and success drivers for High Speed Rail that Sean postulated in his elaborate report with Hi...
#84 – More Than Counting Axles with Michael Thiel
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Michael Thiel from a small town in Austria near the border to Germany. Michael is the CEO of Frauscher Sensor Technology, a globa...
#83 – Moving Block and AI for German Rail with Thomas Laux
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second and last part of a longer conversation between Doc Frank and Thomas Laux from German Rail (DB). We keep talking about the technolog...
#82 –Digitalisation of German Rail with Thomas Laux
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Thomas Laux from Berlin in Germany. Thomas is responsible for the introduction of new technology in the second stage of the “Di...
#81 – CBTC Fireside Chat with Mike Palmer
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Mike Palmer from Toronto in Canada. With substantial responsibilities in brownfield CBTC application for several projects in Lond...
#80 – Enhanced ETCS (from Urban Rail 2024)
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this extraordinary episode, Doc Frank reports from ETCS presentations recently given at the Urban Rail conference. Expect to hear what could well b...
#79 – The High Costs of High Speed with Sean Connolly
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this second part of their conversation, Doc Frank and Sean Connolly discuss the correlation between top speed and construction costs for High Speed...
#78 – Getting High Speed Rail Right with Sean Connolly
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank got Sean Connolly back on the show to talk about Sean’s massive 66-page report giving recommendations for High Speed Rail, and High Speed ...
#77 – The Change to ETCS with Cara Cohen
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Cara Cohen from England. She is an organisational psychologist currently working as Business Change Manager supporting the introd...
#76 – Operating a Metro with Ralph Heredia
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Ralph Heredia from Sydney in Australia. Ralph recently made the jump from a government-owned suburban rail operator to a private ...
#75 – Views on HS2 with Andy Harrison
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with a repeat guest on the show, Andy Harrison from London in England. Inevitably the discussion starts with a question about Andy’s...
#74 – Rail, Maglev or Hyperloop? (Joe Langley Part 2)
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second part of Doc Frank’s chat with Joe Langley, Director of the Australian High Speed Rail Association. Of course there will be the te...
#73 – High Speed Talk with Joe Langley Part 1
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Joe Langley from somewhere between Sydney and Canberra in Australia. Joe is a director of the not-for-profit Australian High Spee...
#72 – High Speed Rail Done Right with Michael Byng
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The podcast returns to the popular topic of high speed rail by Doc Frank chatting with Michael Byng from England. Michael is a quantity surveyor, is o...
#71 – Balancing Career and Family with Carina O’Brien
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Carina O'Brien from Melbourne in Australia. She is not only the Head of Strategy of a large multinational railway systems su...
#70 – Burned Out with Charles Page
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features some of the pre-talk with the guest interviewed in episode 69, Charles Page from Sydney in Australia. It includes important insi...
#69 – “Retirement 1.0” with Charles Page
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Charles Page from Sydney in Australia, until his recent first attempt of retirement the grey eminence of railway strategy in Siem...
#68 – CBTC for a Greenfield Metro with Bill Whitmore (Part 2)
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the rest of the long-form conversation between Doc Frank and Bill Whitmore from Tel Aviv, Israel. With a view on the upcoming rollout of Commu...
#67 – CBTC for a Greenfield Metro with Bill Whitmore (Part 1)
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first part of a longer conversation between Doc Frank and Bill Whitmore who currently lives in Tel Aviv, Israel and works on the inception...
#66 – High Speed Rail Insights with Sean T. Connolly (Part 2)
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second part of the conversation between Doc Frank and Sean T. Connolly, talking about his profound experience in high speed rail and how t...
#65 – High Speed Rail Insights with Sean T. Connolly (Part 1)
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first part of a chat between Doc Frank and Sean T. Connolly from Malaga in Spain. Sean has long-time experience with high speed rail in Sp...
#64 – Railways for Smart Cities with Khaled Daher
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Khaled Daher from Palestine, now living and working in Jerusalem, Israel. The conversation covers how modern railways fit into th...
#63 – Hyperloop for Australia??
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second and last part of a recent live discussion about the pros and cons of a High Speed Rail network in Australia. My main guest was Step...
#62 – High Speed Rail for Australia?
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is the first of two parts of a recent live discussion about the pros and cons of a High Speed Rail network in Australia. The main protago...
#61 – Railway Legalities with Jakub Tomczak
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Jakub Tomczak from Warsaw in Poland. Jakub is lawyer by education and this conversation explores how he came to the railway indus...
#60 – Introducing ETCS with Craig Evans
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Craig Evans from Ipswich in England about the impact of introducing the European Train Control System (ETCS) to a freight and log...
#59 – Career Balancing with Sita Brown
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Sita Brown from Sydney in Australia. Sita managed very successfully to build a career in both corporate and charity organisations...
#58 – Voice of Reason with Andy Harrison
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Andy Harrison is back! After our quite deep conversation in episode 6 this is a follow-up to reflect a few things happening during 2023 in the railway...
#57 – Global Project Management with Sonny Kaur
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Sonny Kaur from Perth in Western Australia. Sonny collected vast project management experience in Australia, the USA and Europe w...
#56 – Project Management Insights with Tony Eid
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Tony Eid from Sydney, Australia, who presently works as Deputy Project Director on the prestigious Cross River Rail project in Br...
#55 – Digital Signalling for Regional Fast Rail with Doc Frank
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank explains the concept of ‘Regional Fast Rail’ as a third pillar of passenger rail apart from city metros and intercity high speed service...
#54 – Digital Signalling Interoperability with Doc Frank
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank discusses a critical topic for the railway industry, not just in Australia but arguably everywhere else where interoperability between advan...
#53 – Why CBTC Matters (Including to "Non-Signalling People")
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank explains why signalling knowledge becomes relevant for the wider railway organisation as it transitions from conventional signalling to high...
#52 – Presidential Talk with Steve Boshier
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Steve Boshier from Melbourne in Australia, the current global president of the IRSE (Institution of Railway Signal Engineers). Th...
#51 – Starting in Railways with Hares Rahimzei
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first episode of 2024 presents the first-ever guest from the USA. Hares Rahimzei from San Francisco joined the railway industry just six months ag...
#50 – How to Plan Your 2024 with Doc Frank
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode reveals some lessons learned from 2023 and tips how to improve things sustainably for the new year 2024.Show notes:1. Those wer...
#49 – 2023 Wrap-Up
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this end-of-year episode Doc Frank talks about some industry highlights in 2023, both from a personal and global perspective. Topics covered includ...
#48 – 2023 Highlights Part 1
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode presents end-of-year highlights from the first six episodes of this podcast. In case you missed some and find the highlights intriguing, ...
#47 – People Focus with Teeshal Bal
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s guest is Melbourne-based railway manager and leadership coach Teeshal Bal who was already featured before in episode 28 and the leadership e...
#46 – Mindset Special with Free Training
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a special about the need for mindset shifts when a railway transitions from a legacy environment with conventional fixed-block signall...
#45 – Rail Wisdom with Steve Allday
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats again with Steve Allday from Sydney, Australia, a previous guest from episode 16. Following the great success of that episode, this co...
#44 – Leadership Wisdom with Teeshal Bal and Mick Spiers
08 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is a highlight reel of previous episodes 28 with Teeshal Bal and 31 with Mick Spiers, both living in Melbourne/Australia. Both are involved in le...
#43 – Railway Training Insights with Doc Frank and Rahiman Shaik
01 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we have a role reversal where Doc Frank is interviewed by Rahiman Shaik from Sydney, Australia on Rahiman’s Railway Transportation S...
#42 – CBTC Lessons from New York with Doc Frank
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a real treat for fans of Communications-Based Train Control or short CBTC. The first part of this episode is a recap of a CBTC present...
#41 – Railway Career Talk with Tiff Lykke
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Tiff Lykke, a railway project manager from Melbourne in Australia. We talk about how to start a career in railways, even when com...
#40 – Insights from Rail Systems Testing Experts
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This special episode highlights clips from four previous episodes with experts in the the field of rail systems testing. Artur Wolnica (episode 13), D...
#39 – Highlights from the Best CBTC Conference Ever
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the most labour-intensive episode in the history of this podcast, Doc Frank presents highlights from all 18 presentations of the recent CBTC World ...
#38 – Conversation with Jørgen Christophersen Knudsen and Lennart Beijer
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with another double act from Scandinavia, this time from Norway which adds yet another country to the map of international podcast gue...
#37 – Conversation with Chris Hale
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Dr Chris Hale, an expert transport planner from Melbourne in Australia. The two doctors discuss transport planning in Melbourne a...
#36 – Conversation with Peter Thornton
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Peter Thornton from Sydney in Australia, an experienced veteran in railway consulting. A lively discussion between two thought le...
#35 – Conversation Highlights with Women in Rail
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This experimental episode is a highlight reel of three conversations with female guests.Victoria Winder from episode 11 talks about her testing experi...
#34 – Conversation with Xavier Ricco
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Xavier Ricco from Mons in Belgium, adding another country to the range of international guests. Xavier is arguably one of the glo...
#33 - CBTC World Summit Special
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, Doc Frank lets you look behind the scenes of organising a global railway conference single-handedly. It shows what is possibl...
#32 – Conversation with Mats Boman
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Mats Boman from Stockholm in Sweden. Mats is a truly global player who has been “around the block” and now focuses on how rai...
#31 – Conversation with Mick Spiers
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Mick Spiers from Melbourne in Australia. Mick not only holds a senior position in the railway industry, he is also the founder of...
#30 – Conversation with Craig Sparrius
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Craig Sparrius from Melbourne in Australia. Craig has a substantial career background in railway planning, including timetabling ...
#29 – Conversation with Professor Clive Roberts
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Professor Clive Roberts from Birmingham in England. Clive is outstandingly active in bringing together academics and industry to ...
#28 – Conversation with Teeshal Bal
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Teeshal Bal, now from Melbourne in Australia, but originally from Malaysia which adds another country to the portfolio of interna...
#27 – Conversation with Roy Unny
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Time for the first repeat guest. Doc Frank chats with Roy Unny from Melbourne in Australia. After a well-received episode 22 with him, this one is spe...
#26 – High Capacity Railway Special
05 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode Doc Frank talks about the importance of high capacity, for the entire railway organisation about to transform to new levels of...
#25 – Conversation with Lauren Guiney
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Lauren Guiney from Melbourne in Australia. Lauren has just completed a double degree in civil engineering and architectural desig...
#24 – Conversation with Lisa Hogben
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Lisa Hogben from Melbourne in Australia. Despite her being between jobs as her project was just put on hold, we have quite an upb...
#23 – Conversation with Frederic Sancho
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Frederic Sancho from London in England, but originally from France (just to add another country to my guest list). Frederic devel...
#22 – Conversation with Roy Unny
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Roy Unny from Melbourne in Australia. Roy is the National Executive Chair of the Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA) ...
#21 – Conversation with Danny O’Connell
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Danny O’Connell from Brisbane in Australia. Danny is a specialist in testing and commissioning of complex railway systems which...
#20 – Conversation with Ivan Ristic
24 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Ivan Ristic from Belgrade in Serbia, adding another country to the list of international guests. Ivan is Managing Director of Sig...
#19 – Conversation with Andy Knight
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Andy Knight from Derby in England. Andy is Managing Director of Signet, a prime provider of signalling training in the UK, and he...
#18 – Conversation with Lloyd D’Cruz
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Lloyd D’Cruz from Sydney in Australia. Lloyd works on the important “More Trains More Services” program in Sydney and of co...
#17 – Conversation with Paul Roach (with reversed roles)
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Paul Roach, a business consultant and coach from Perth in Australia. But this time the podcaster gets “podcasted” himself. Th...
#16 – Conversation with Stephen Allday
19 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Stephen Allday from Sydney in Australia. Steve can look back at a railway career of over 50 years and just last year he resolved ...
#15 – Conversation with Lena Harnisch
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Lena Harnisch from Braunschweig in Germany. Lena is an expert in cybersecurity which is of course the central topic of our talk. ...
#14 – Conversation with Rebecca Want
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Rebecca Want from Sydney in Australia. She talks about her impressive career in railways that led her to a very senior position i...
#13 – Conversation with Artur Wolnica
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Artur Wolnica from Katowice in Poland. Artur is an internationally experienced system tester of ETCS technology. We talk a lot ab...
#12 – Conversation with Matthew Rea
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Matthew Rea from Kent in south-east England. Matthew is an experienced signalling trainer and also works in assurance of landmark...
#11 – Conversation with Victoria Winder
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Victoria Winder from Brisbane, Australia. Victoria is my historically first female guest on the podcast, keeping another promise ...
#10 – Conversation with Barry West
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Barry West from London, England. Barry is a trainer for train drivers and has notably been involved in the driver training for th...
#9 – Conversation with Andreas Mårtensson and Gunnar Smith
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with a double act from Stockholm, Sweden – Andreas Mårtensson and Gunnar Smith. They have spent many years populating “Formal Met...
#8 – Conversation with Venkata K
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Venkata K Haranadh Marra from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who entered the railway signalling industry only six years ago but has since ...
#7 – Conversation with Rodrigo Alvarez
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Rodrigo Alvarez from Perth, Australia, who is one of Australia’s top experts for modern railway telecommunications. Rodrigo has...
#6 – Conversation with Andy Harrison
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Andy Harrison from London, England, who is a highly renowned consultant in the field of modern railway signalling following sever...
#5 – Conversation with Dr Alan Rumsey
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Dr Alan Rumsey from Toronto, Canada, who is one of the most distinct global authorities in the field of Communications-Based Trai...
#4 – Conversation with Vinay Kumar Singh
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Doc Frank chats with Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) from Delhi, India. His organisa...