LOL The Irony
On Moderation
I've still got a dim view on RAIL for the arse kissing of Porterbrook and the DafT they did. And then the continuation upon the H-bomb flex being announced.
I've still got a dim view on RAIL for the arse kissing of Porterbrook and the DafT they did. And then the continuation upon the H-bomb flex being announced.
The mags have had bumper few years of easy content but they all know things are going to get lean with fewer new NR projects and no relationships with certain new suppliers who can be bit secretive they need all the free content they can get so expect far more of it.Yes it was/is pathetic.
Did not like Nigel Harris's view on DOO and Guards a couple of years. Surprisingly for a bloke who clearly has alot of experience of the railways. Anyway, back on subject.....I've still got a dim view on RAIL for the arse kissing of Porterbrook and the DafT they did. And then the continuation upon the H-bomb flex being announced.
They are supposed to report the facts, not diss everyone.I've still got a dim view on RAIL for the arse kissing of Porterbrook and the DafT they did. And then the continuation upon the H-bomb flex being announced.
This project wouldn't have happened if grayling & the DfT weren't incompetent - fact.They are supposed to report the facts, not diss everyone.
They are supposed to report the facts, not diss everyone.
They are supposed to report the facts, not diss everyone.
Yep long ago it changed from a leading rail enthusiasts mag to a political 'voice'.....Nigel Harris lacks any objectivity. That lack of objectivity trickles down to the rest of the contributors. I've long since given up on purchasing RAIL magazine. Too much in the pocket of the industry, preferring puff pieces and back-slapping, rather than quality investigative journalism.
That statement covers more than just one title. The railway press, apart from the ones overtly aimed at enthusiasts and their interests, is far more of part of the railway's PR machine than journalistic. They are the transport equivalent of Hello - before we start please tell us how wonderful you are.Nigel Harris lacks any objectivity. That lack of objectivity trickles down to the rest of the contributors. I've long since given up on purchasing RAIL magazine. Too much in the pocket of the industry, preferring puff pieces and back-slapping, rather than quality investigative journalism.
I suspect that if either Wolmar or Doe were got rid of their readership would decline somewhat. I used to buy approx. every other issue, but down to about quarterly now!In the latest edition of 'RAIL' Nigel Harris says that he will be receiving 'works attention' for knee-replacement surgery (too much genuflecting before ministers and the industry perhaps?) and will be out of action for a while. Hopefully that will give other contributors a chance to shine, and he can be gracefully retired. I find his editorials intensely annoying - whatever one's views of nationalisation it is clearly a live topic popular with the public and deserves an objective analysis in the traditional 'on the one hand, on the other' journalistic manner. Cheap shots about British Rail and rants about the Labour Party (in particular Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester for some reason) really do not cut it. It is also very difficult to get a reader's letter published in the magazine that does not accord with his view, and it is quite suprising that Christian Wolmar and Barry Doe still manage to retain their columns.
I used to read practically every issue of RAIL but do not bother at all these days, primarily for the reasons everyone else has stated. It just seems to have lost its bite as the years have passed.
I still buy TRUK but I think for the last three or four months I have literally skimmed through it when I have got home and that's it, it gets consigned to the shelf and I never touch them again. It was never quite the same after the sad passing of Peter Fox, but it has dropped off a cliff over the past two years, it started to turn into signal boxes and preserved lines monthly and though it has improved I think that spell obliterated what remained of my interest. Thankfully Mike Stone's excellent timetable review (far better than Barry Doe I believe) is still a fixture.
The only one I tend to bother with nowadays is Modern Rail, which has held pretty steady for as long as I have been reading it in my opinion.
I still quite enjoy Rail, even though I disagree with some of the editorial opinion.
However, I would reduce the length of the "big interview" pieces by around a half and increase the articles on routes, historical events, trains, signalling etc as these are generally much more interesting.
...and not claim that Taffs Well station will open in 2002
I still quite enjoy Rail, even though I disagree with some of the editorial opinion.
However, I would reduce the length of the "big interview" pieces by around a half and increase the articles on routes, historical events, trains, signalling etc as these are generally much more interesting.
There are some good bits - I have a subscription which I will cancel as I get enraged too often by the "BR was incompetent , rubbish etc editorials - followed by "lets fix franchising" , (How , please -most things have been tried) - the standards of the letter page is woeful with crashingly naive and simplistic letters , with often (even more anti-BR snipes)
Bit more rigour - some more "with it" focused and business let articles , less of the tedious stuff. Less of the "pet projects too" .
Somebody actually reads what Woemar writes? This is news!I suspect that if either Wolmar or Doe were got rid of their readership would decline somewhat. I used to buy approx. every other issue, but down to about quarterly now!
To be fair to their pet projects, they do support some reopenings, which no one else in this country seems to.
That's where the issue lies - 'reopenings'. There was a line there once, so therefore it must be useful again.
'Supporting the principle of new lines to address a specific problem where rail is the most appropriate transport solution and a good shout at a business case' is a more realistic approach - if any happen to marry up with the line of a former rail route, then it's a happy coincidence!