The Railway Magazine

The Railway Magazine has been published since 1897 and is now the UK's best-selling general interest rail title. Every month, The RM provides enthusiasts and professionals with authoritative and informed news coverage of the following: - Network Rail and the train operating companies - Locomotives, multiple units, carriages and wagons - Steam, heritage and the preservation world, inc narrow gauge- Metro and underground systems - In addition, the magazine carries frequent items of overseas interest.

The Railway Magazine is also renowned for its wide-ranging and innovative feature coverage, encompassing up-to-the-minute developments as well as historical, nostalgic and foreign subjects. The magazine is also renowned for its award-winning photographic content.

The Railway Magazine

HS2 for Manchester again?

New Prime Minister calls for HS2 to reach Manchester after all • Andy Burnham says he wants to overturn cancellation of the Phase 2 link.

‘Metrocars’ soldier on as routine inspections find component issue with Class 555 sets

RMT calls strikes over ‘growing safety concerns’ with EMR Class 810 fleet • Issues in service with the new Hitachi-built ‘Auroras’, plus maintenance problems with the remaining Class 222s, have forced temporary timetable cuts.

Gresley tank engine returns to traffic • Sole surviving ‘N2’ completes eight-year overhaul at North Norfolk Railway.

Boost for Irish cross-border services • €228m funding package targets sub-two-hour ‘Enterprise’ journey.

Railways in Parliament

Major milestones reached with HS2 ‘cut and cover’ projects • Copthall is the first of five ‘green tunnels’ on the high-speed route to be finished and Burton Green is structurally complete.

Why the North West? • Mike Jones looks at why main line steam clung on the longest around the Lancashire region.

Keeping the Railway 200 spirit alive • A year-long tour by the ‘Inspiration Train’ and more than a thousand other events, including the three-day Greatest Gathering in Derby, ensured the bi-centenary of the modern railway was marked on a major scale. Graeme Pickering asks if the success of the celebrations can encourage the rail industry to be bolder and more ambitious when it comes to public engagement in the future.

Inspiration: An exhibition on rails • With such an important anniversary as the bicentennial year, one of the key questions asked early on was how to do something that would be accessible to as many people as possible? Even an event such as The Greatest Gathering, while held over three days, was limited in its reach by its geographical location. If people are therefore unable to travel to you, the answer is then quite simple: You do something that you can take to the people.How that was achieved presented its own challenges. June 26, 2025, saw Railway 200 launch its travelling exhibition train. Aptly named Inspiration, it utilised converted carriages and was specifically designed to not only cover some of the lesser-told stories of the industry’s history, but also to capture the imagination of young people in particular, with hopes of encouraging them to consider a railway career in the future. Emma Roberts, Railway 200 programme manager, talked Owen Hayward through the process of Inspiration’s development, from its early concepts through to the finished article.

A new ‘Castle’ to Newcastle • When No. 5043 became the first ‘Castle’ to reach Tyneside since 1967, John Heaton FCILT was on board to record the performance.

Managing the Liverpool Street Division • The late Gordon Pettitt was one of British Rail’s most respected senior managers, with Part 4 of his personal diaries recalling how the early 1980s saw cutbacks but also investment.

Readers’ Platform • Send your letters to: The...