Rail Magazine

RAIL magazine is Britain’s biggest-selling modern railways magazine, giving comprehensive news coverage for the industry. Over 25,000 copies are sold every fortnight.

Rail 504: South East rail rows show ministers’ failure on capacity

Rail 504: South East rail rows show ministers’ failure on capacity

Proposals to scrap Gatwick Express, and for a new Superlink scheme to rival Crossrail, are both symptoms of the government’s ...
Rail 503: Privatisation’s union-bashing agenda has backfired

Rail 503: Privatisation’s union-bashing agenda has backfired

An unspoken aim of privatisation was to curb the power of the unions, but instead it has strengthened the hand ...
Rail 502: Review comes in with a bang but out with a whimper

Rail 502: Review comes in with a bang but out with a whimper

The Railways Bill fails to tackle the real questions at the core of the privatised industry. CHRISTIAN WOLMAR believes the ...
Rail 501: Highway chiefs shirk duties where roads meet rail

Rail 501: Highway chiefs shirk duties where roads meet rail

The media coverage of the Berkshire train crash was remarkably restrained. There have been few calls for radical improvements in ...
Rail 500: Why London deserves the lion’s share of rail capital

Rail 500: Why London deserves the lion’s share of rail capital

Interesting things are afoot in the rail industry - both in terms of new projects and of experiments in new ...
Rail 499: ‘Woe-mar’: ‘WCML is great - just don't let me down!’

Rail 499: ‘Woe-mar’: ‘WCML is great – just don’t let me down!’

Virgin’s Chris Green has accused CHRISTIAN WOLMAR of being churlish in his reaction to launch of the new West Coast ...
Rail 498: Could SET set the scene for publicly run Kent franchise?

Rail 498: Could SET set the scene for publicly run Kent franchise?

At a Labour conference fringe meeting, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling appeared to hint to CHRISTIAN WOLMAR that the Integrated Kent ...
Rail 497: A 'Revolution' that leaves the railway in the red

Rail 497: A ‘Revolution’ that leaves the railway in the red

The Prime Minister’s brief appearance at the launch of the WCML Pendolino service could be a sign of his exasperation ...
Rail 496: How the Curse of the SRA claimed two high casualties

Rail 496: How the Curse of the SRA claimed two high casualties

The government set up the SRA as a quasi-independent body, but whenever its chairmen tried to exercise that independence, they ...
Rail 495: The franchise merry-go-round

Rail 495: The franchise merry-go-round

So the merry go round continues. FirstGroup is awarded the Scotrail franchise although it was not deemed good enough to ...
Rail 494: Class of 2004 is improving - but still must try harder

Rail 494: Class of 2004 is improving – but still must try harder

In his annual report on the performance of pupils in the railway school, headmaster CHRISTIAN WOLMAR reflects on a year ...
Rail 493: Review couples too much caution with too little clarity

Rail 493: Review couples too much caution with too little clarity

So what was it all about? Tom Winsor didn’t want it, Richard Bowker has been bumped off by it and ...
Rail 492: Darling's review: change here for a simpler railway system

Rail 492: Darling’s review: change here for a simpler railway system

Britain’s privatised railway is often said to be in a constant state of change. The reality, however, is that the ...
Rail 491: Rail the loser as bosses play 'let's pretend' game

Rail 491: Rail the loser as bosses play ‘let’s pretend’ game

Privatised railway chiefs like to portray themselves as buccaneering capitalists in a risk-taking industry but the reality, as CHRISTIAN WOLMAR ...
Rail 490: Darling won't put weedkiller on nettle strangling railway

Rail 490: Darling won’t put weedkiller on nettle strangling railway

According to a summary of the draft rail review leaked to CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, the Government proposes a patch-up, with all ...
Rail 489: Winsorworld... we're the fools and the contract is king

Rail 489: Winsorworld… we’re the fools and the contract is king

As Tom Winsor prepares to return to a highly-paid job in the City, CHRISTIAN WOLMAR wonders whether the last true ...
Rail 488: UK should emulate Australian example of rail integration

Rail 488: UK should emulate Australian example of rail integration

Britain pioneered the ill-starred global reform of the railways in the 1990s. Back from addressing a conference in Australia, CHRISTIAN ...
Rail 487: Light rail is trapped on tramlines of a mistaken model

Rail 487: Light rail is trapped on tramlines of a mistaken model

New light rail systems have proved expensive and some are failing to meet predictions of passenger numbers, but CHRISTIAN WOLMAR ...
Rail 486: Bowker's next stage on journey to a new BR?

Rail 486: Bowker’s next stage on journey to a new BR?

A chastened Richard Bowker has undergone a change of heart as remarkable as the Prime Minister’s on the EU constitution ...
Rail 485: Orwell's spectre stalks railway as history is rewritten

Rail 485: Orwell’s spectre stalks railway as history is rewritten

It’s more like 1984 than 2004 as senior railway figures criticise a structure that only months ago they were defending ...
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