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

Averting a crisis

The RAILWAY Magazine

‘Slam-door’ VEP relaunched at London Waterloo • £50,000 needed to complete third-rail EMU’s mainline return.

More HSTs for export

HSTs ENTER SERVICE IN MEXICO

Rise in open access applications • FirstGroup seeks to serve Sheffield, while Wrexham and Shropshire could return.

SIDELINES

Drivers’ strike action stalemate • Negotiations remain deadlocked 18 months after strikes began, but train operators opt not to use the new ‘Minimum Service Levels’legislation.

Simplified fares trial could make some journeys more expensive

SIDELINES

Two heritage line half-centuries to be celebrated • East Somerset, and Kent & East Sussex railways to mark milestones this year.

Summer opening after all for Northumberland Line

HISTORIC ICON SHOWCASED IN ABERYSTWYTH

Teen army tackles charity ‘Tubeathon’

Final call for entries in the RCTS photo competition • Free-to-enter contest has a fabulous range of prizes up for grabs.

Railways in Parliament

SIDELINES

Year-long viaduct deck operation gets underway • Pioneering composite structure reaches critical stage at Buckinghamshire bridge.

10-mile Chiltern tunnel drive nears completion

WASHWOOD EARTHWORKS

West Coast loses legal battle – then door exemption revoked • Popular‘Jacobite’service set to go ahead with central door locking fitted.

Flying Scotsman to be static – but main line return on the cards for the autumn

VISUAL AIDS

Tees Valley ‘keen to lead’ on greener trains

Are we heading for a rolling stock crisis? • Despite the rapid return to almost pre-Covid passenger numbers, 2023 saw several fleets of trains withdrawn and placed in store. Chris Milner casts an eye over the current rolling stock situation.

2023 A year of change • Ashley Butlin looks back over the major stock changes that took place in the last 12 months.

Viaducts of the West Highland Line • Armed with a copy of the 1894 Murray’s Handbook for Scotland, Dr Joseph Brennan takes a trip along the West Highland Line to highlight some of the key structures along the way.

Waiting for the Tube • A snapshot from the very early British Railways era in West London shows the local passenger service at Northolt about to give way to an extension of the Underground’s Central Line.

In search of variety • John Heaton FCILT uses a two-day, multi-leg journey from Devon to Oxford via York, Warrington, Carlisle and Birmingham to gauge how our current railway service is performing.

PANORAMA • A showcase for the best in railway photography

Readers’ Platform • Send your letters to: The Railway Magazine, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR. Email: railway@mortons.co.uk

MEETINGS

From the archive • Subscribe and read previous issues at www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/archive

The RCTS:...