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Opinions on the quality of journalism in RAIL magazine

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LOL The Irony

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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.
 
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hwl

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Yes it was/is pathetic.
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.
 

physics34

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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.
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.....
 

LOL The Irony

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They are supposed to report the facts, not diss everyone.
This project wouldn't have happened if grayling & the DfT weren't incompetent - fact.
Porterbrook were overly ambitious and some might say, stupid, for thinking strapping diesel engines to 30 year old EMU's was going to take a short period of time - fact.
The delays to the project made the May timetable change much, much worse to the point that they were a causing factor - fact.
Porterbrook have missed quite a few deadlines - fact.
 

Rail Blues

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They are supposed to report the facts, not diss everyone.

A magazine isn't just a collection of 'facts' it would be incredibly dull to read if that were the case. It would consist of a list of bullet points.

Good journalism should ask questions and offer informed commentary.

That's the problem, they didn't report facts or were selective in reporting them and they didn't ask awkward questions that needed asking, just merely let themselves be used as Porterbrook's pr arm.
 

bnm

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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.
 

physics34

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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.
Yep long ago it changed from a leading rail enthusiasts mag to a political 'voice'.....
 

Bertie the bus

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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.
 

trash80

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That's like most of the media unfortunately, money for journalism has been cut dramatically and even national newspapers fill their pages with barely disguised press releases. But they are businesses that have to make a profit to survive.
 
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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.
 

Busaholic

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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 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!
 

MidnightFlyer

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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.
 

Failed Unit

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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.

Must admit my opinion is virtually the same as yours.

I can’t really put my opinion of what put me off Rail but it was over a number of years. I think it was generally I can get what I am interested in from TRUK and Modern railways but the quality is better so why bother buying.

I have noticed Nigel Harris as a very “I am right - the rest of you know nothing tone”. The recent GTR fiasco, he claims that he has provided evidence that it has cost a lot of real money on reputation damage and they are hurting. But when someone challenged him for said evidence in the article he didn’t give and and just gave a frosty response to read the article properly. when others highlighted the lack of impact on the share price he again refused to comment.
 

the sniper

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I'm pleasantly surprised to see there's so much consensus on Rail and particularly Nigel Harris. He's a guy who very much knows which side his bread is buttered. I appreciate that he has to keep the thing in business, but at what cost? By the time I'd given up reading the mag a couple of years ago it read like a propaganda sheet for the industry. More so than any other publication it pushes the agenda and interests of the industry. It seems to rely upon its audience being interested in, but detached from, the industry.

You can tell Nigel is the driving force behind this by his commentary on Twitter. For somebody who would profess to be a journalist, he seems to be more interested in acting as an industry publicist than anything else.
 

yorksrob

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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.
 

anamyd

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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 depot will open in 2002 :lol:
 
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anamyd

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Got to prepare for Arriva Trains Wales taking over the Wales & Borders franchise in 2003, haha!
 

ChiefPlanner

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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" .
 

yorksrob

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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" .

To be fair to their pet projects, they do support some reopenings, which no one else in this country seems to.
 

StoneRoad

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I have a mixed opinion of Rail. Sometimes it is good, bad and downright ugly - often in the same issue.
Useful sometimes to read views different from your own, it can be educational to try to work out how they got to that point.
(I read someone else's copy)
 

43096

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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!
Somebody actually reads what Woemar writes? This is news!

He’s a very, very poor journalist and an even worse politician.
 

Ianno87

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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!
 

yorksrob

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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!

Of all the lines that were closed, the chances are that some will link places that belong on the railway network today. I'm absolutely all for an established railway publication championing such cases, rather than supinely accepting the status quo.
 

ChiefPlanner

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Just cancelled subscription - the latest one is the final straw. -882 (and have got frustrated with it too often) - nothing of substance to read and a "love in" about the Long Marston show and the yellow plant winners is not what I really want to be spending time reading , or more likely getting an increased blood pressure over some of their comments.

It just lacks credibility , unlike say the latest Modern Railways which has some excellent topics and detailed discussions on relevant developments.
 
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