Gareth Dennis

Gareth Aled Dennis (born February 1991) is a Scottish-Welsh rail engineer and writer based in York who specialises in transport systems and policy. He also lectures at the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE).

Dennis is oft cited as a "rail expert" by the British press.

Early life
Dennis was born in Edinburgh to a Scottish father and a Welsh mother and grew up in Inverurie until the age of 16, when he moved to Aberystwyth. He attended Inverurie Academy and completed his A Levels at Penglais Comprehensive School. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2013 with a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering with Construction Management.

Career
After graduating from University, Dennis joined Atkins as a graduate civil engineer; later in 2016, he became an assistant engineer at Atkins as well as a permanent way engineer at Arcadis. From 2014 to 2020, Dennis served as founding director of Permanent Rail Engineering, a sustainable transport consultancy. In 2018, Dennis began lecturing at the National College for High Speed Rail in Doncaster and the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) at the University of Birmingham.

In 2020, Dennis started the podcast #Railnatter. In addition to his own Medium column, he has written for publications such as The Independent, CityMetric, Railway Gazette International, Left Foot Forward, Wiley Online Library, and Jacobin, and appeared on networks including Sky News, BBC News, ITV Tonight, and Novara Media. Dennis contributed to the Transport Committee's 2022 Integrated Rail Plan inquiry

Dennis is a strong supporter of HS2 and increasing capacity on the UK railway network, and was highly critical of the Conservative government's approach and persistent watering down of the new system. He has also advocated for more metros and tram systems in British cities.

In early 2024, Dennis became a principle engineer and UK professional head of track at SYSTRA and received the company's Distinguished Service Award for a Young Rail Professional. In November 2024, Dennis will publish his debut book How the Railways Will Fix the Future: Rediscovering the brilliance of the iron road via Penguin Random House.

Selected publications

 * How the Railways Will Fix the Future: Rediscovering the essential brilliance of the iron road (2024, Repeater: ISBN 9781915672483)