Editor’s Intro

Welcome to the 120th anniversary issue of The Railway Magazine For a small team that is passionate about railways, who produce the magazine month in, month out, it’s a great milestone – one we are all very proud of. Little did I realise that when my first photograph was published in the December 1982 issue…

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WHEN I wrote my comment at the end of March for the April-dated issue, which, by pure coincidence, contained a feature on whether the railways should be renationalised or not, little did we know that a general election was on the cards. The election will take place the day after this issue hits the bookstalls…

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IN THE July 2016 issue, I made reference to the escalating cost of railway projects nationwide and that the crazy prices are becoming an obstacle to reopening stations and lines. During April, several railway journalists enjoyed an informative and informal lunch with Network Rail CEO Mark Carne, in which he said the organisation is working…

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Mixed messages from the DfT – do they give a damn about the future of rail? THERE’S often a nagging feeling that information from Government lacks thought and co-ordinaton. Take Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s suggestion that private motorists should now hesitate before buying a diesel car and buy the “least polluting vehicle they can”. Yet…

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FOR the third time in eight weeks, the bridge carrying the Leicester to Nuneaton line over the A5 at Hinckley has been hit by an oversized HGV. Such incidents cause inevitable delays, and the roads around Hinckley and Nuneaton become gridlocked for hours. Incidents are costing individuals and businesses money, missed appointments, missed flights, missed…

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AT A time where stories of industrial relations’ disputes are headline news, it is rare to find a topic that the unions, rail industry and stakeholders all agree upon. The British Transport Police (BTP) does a superb job and is widely recognised for its specialist knowledge of railways, the underground network and tram systems. Its…

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SO, AFTER two days of talks before Christmas, there’s still no agreement in the long-running and bitter dispute between Southern and the rail union ASLEF over who presses the door buttons. The strikes continue, the sides as far apart as ever. Southern’s passengers are desperately fed up with the saga of having their working lives…

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THE seven fatalities resulting from the derailment of a Croydon tram has sent shockwaves through the public transport industry. The incident happened on a sharp bend with the tram travelling at three times the permitted speed. It is the worst rail or tram accident on the UK network since the Ufton Nervet level crossing crash…

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BRITAIN’S rail freight companies are facing a crisis. In the past 18 months coal traffic has taken a substantial downturn, with the latest quarterly figures showing a 61.4% drop, not helped by the Government’s doubling of carbon tax and the decision to close all coal-fired power stations by 2025. With UK manufacturing facing an uncertain…

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A FEW readers felt my comments last month about problems on the Borders Railway were unfair. The £300million project has been well-covered and supported by The RM, and while it is a superb achievement in so much as passengers have flocked to the line in far greater numbers than envisaged, the performance of trains and…

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