Categories | Rail transport |
---|---|
Frequency | Fortnightly |
Circulation | 20,063 (January–December 2015) [1] |
Publisher | Bauer Consumer Media |
First issue | 1981 | (as Rail Enthusiast)
Country | United Kingdom |
Based in | Peterborough |
Website | www |
ISSN | 0953-4563 |
Rail is a British magazine on the subject of current rail transport in Great Britain. It is published every two weeks by Bauer Consumer Media and can be bought from the travel sections of UK newsstands. It is targeted primarily at the enthusiast market, but also covers issues relating to rail transport.
Rail is more than four decades old, and was called Rail Enthusiast from its launch in 1981 until 1988. It is one of only two railway magazines that increased its circulation. It has roughly the same cover design for several years, with a capitalised italic red RAIL along the top of the front cover.
Rail is customarily critical of railway institutions, including the Rail Delivery Group, the Office of Rail and Road, as well as, since it assumed greater railway powers, the Department for Transport. Rail's continuing campaigns include one against advertising and media images showing celebrities and others walking between the rails (an unsafe practice), with another against weeds on railway lines.
The market for rail magazines has remained static but bounced back since then[ when? ]. To meet the change in the market, the magazine has repositioned itself from being purely enthusiast-based to being more business-oriented. This has met with some success.
Rail also organises conferences, including the annual National Rail Conference, the National Rail Awards and the Rail 100 Breakfast Club.
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Rail publishes a mix of news, analysis and features written by its own editorial staff and freelance contributors.
The magazine takes a broadly supportive stance on High Speed 2 and began running a regular column dedicated to it in 2013.
The magazine's managing editor was Nigel Harris, who was editor for 28 years between 1995 and September 2023. [2] Dickon Ross took over as editor in 2024. Other staff include Industry Editor Richard Wilcock and News Editor Dave Stubbings. [3]
Other regular contributors include transport commentator Christian Wolmar, one of the most vociferous critics of the privatisation of railways in Britain; fares and ticketing expert Barry Doe (The Fare Dealer); an anonymous railway employee, the Industry Insider, as well as Steve Broadbent, Andy Coward and Chris Leigh.
Many of Rail's editorial staff frequently appear on television and radio when a rail expert is needed to comment on a story.
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bit-tech is an online magazine for computer hardware enthusiasts, gamers and case modders, based in the UK. It was founded in 2000, became a fully professional online publication in 2005, and announced its acquisition by Dennis Publishing in October 2008. Dennis Publishing then partnered the site with existing monthly publication Custom PC magazine, making Bit-Tech the online version of the magazine. At this point the two editorial teams were totally integrated. However, due to a restructure in January 2012 the website and magazine had separate editors again, although several of the writers still contributed material to both publications. It is owned by The Media Team.
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Railfan & Railroad is an American monthly magazine that has been in publication since the 1970s. It was the first magazine title established in-house by Carstens Publications. As a magazine dedicated to trains and rail transportation, it stands out from its main competitor Trains as a publication focused on the enthusiast and related activities. Established in 1974 as Railfan magazine, it merged in 1979 with Railroad magazine, which Carstens purchased at that time. The magazine was renamed Railfan & Railroad, but the two former titles were listed separately on the masthead until 2015. The magazine was acquired by White River Productions in September 2014. The magazine is produced monthly, edited by Steve Barry.
Nigel Harris is an English journalist and media commentator. He was managing editor of RAIL, a UK rail industry magazine. Now Co-Presenter of the Green Signals podcast with Richard Bowker CBE. He has been in the railway publishing industry since 1981 where he started as assistant editor of the publication Steam World. He is often invited to speak on British television about accidents and other rail related matters. He is regularly called before the Transport Select Committee of the UK Parliament to give evidence and opinion. He has also taught on the Winchester Journalism course.