RAIL (magazine)

Rail

Cover of an issue from January 2013
Categories	Rail transport
Frequency	Fortnightly
Circulation	20,063 (January–December 2015)
Publisher	Bauer Consumer Media
First issue	1981 (as Rail Enthusiast)
Country	England
Based in	Peterborough
Website	www.railmagazine.com
ISSN	0953-4563

Rail is an English magazine on the subject of current rail transport in Great Britain. It is published every two weeks by Bauer Consumer Media and is available in the transport sections of many British newsagents. It is targeted primarily at the enthusiast market (those whose hobby is railways, rather than their occupation), but also covers business issues, often in depth.

Rail is more than three decades old, and was known as Rail Enthusiast from its launch in 1981 until 1988. It is one of only two railway magazines that increased its circulation in 2012 (the other being The Railway Magazine, published monthly, which Rail outperforms overall). It has had roughly the same cover design for at least a decade, 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) and another against weeds on railways.

The magazine's readership peaked in the late 1980s at around 45,000. Since then the market for railway magazines has declined, although more titles (e.g. Rail Express, Traction, Heritage Railways, Today's Railways Europe and Today's Railways UK) have appeared. 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, but the title must also cater for enthusiasts, if it is to continue to be available through retail outlets.

Rail also organises conferences, including the annual National Rail Conference, the National Rail Awards and the Rail 100 Breakfast Club.

Rail publishes a mix of news, analysis and features written by its own editorial staff and freelance contributors.