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

Lights, camera, Bluebell

Official launch for ‘99s’ • GBRf has unveiled its mighty Class 99 bi-mode locos, which are set to‘revolutionise rail freight’.

Open access applications denied • Regulator refuses new proposals for services on the West Coast Main Line.

Flying Scotsman reopens Severn Valley Railway after landslip repairs • Full SVR route to Bridgnorth back in use after track was left hanging.

Passenger numbers up but revenue falters

Royal Train to be axed as looming refurbishment makes it too costly

SIDELINES

Chiltern to replace Mk.3s with Mk.5s in spring 2026 • Former TransPennine Express loco-hauled sets to be redeployed.

Rail schemes get Government funding

Final two Northumberland Line station openings pushed to 2026

SIDELINES

DIARY

Railway 200 exhibition train begins national tour • ‘Inspiration’offers a look at the past, present and future.

Depot open days planned at Ashford and Heaton

Nostalgic documentary film to get first showings

Ireland gets €24 billion transport boost

Bleak future for Lindsey • Receiver looks at options for North Lincolnshire refinery.

Railways in Parliament

Excavation of HS2’s 8.4-mile-long Northolt Tunnel completed • The last of the four TBMs which created the twin bores reached the end of its journey beneath West London in late June.

Northamptonshire viaduct deck positioned in three-day operation

Bye-bye BR • Managed decline under nationalised British Rail was turned into a passenger boom by Privatisation, as Mike Jones describes.

On location at the Bluebell • For more than six decades, the Bluebell Railway has provided authentic railway settings for films, TV dramas, advertisements and music videos, as Karen Richardson reports.

Liverpool at the double • The introduction of Hitachi-built Class 807 EMUs means Avanti can now run a twice-hourly daytime service of fast trains between Liverpool and London. John Heaton FCILT was invited aboard for a cab ride on one of the new trains.

The quest for definitive knowledge • The RCTS has launched an online database tool that provides detailed reference material about every diesel, electric or gas turbine locomotive that has ever run on the national network.

A regional rivalry • Send your letters to: The Railway Magazine, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR. Email: railway@mortons.co.uk NB. Publication of a letter does not imply that the Editor or staff of The Railway Magazine necessarily agree with its contents.

MEETINGS • Please check with organisers before travelling to events.

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

The RCTS: then and now

Young Railway Photographers of the Year 2025 announced • National competition winners revealed in ceremony held at the NRM in York.

TRACKRECORD • The Railway...