Rail (magazine)

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.

Editorial policy
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. 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.

Regular features and contributors
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. Other staff include Deputy Editor Stefanie Foster, News Editor Paul Stephen and Features Editor Tom Allett.

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.