The entire RAIL editorial staff team had left the fortnightly print title en masse towards the end of 2023, leaving the permanent production staff struggling to maintain a publication led by part-time freelance editors.

Like many specialist magazines, RAIL magazine was facing a long-term decline in newsstand sales of prints, but its live events had been going from strength to strength and there was untapped potential for digital growth. But there was no new budget with which to make changes.

The new editor, starting in 2024, took over from freelance cover with no permanent editorial staff. He was tasked with building the digital side of the B2B brand and, over the next year, built a team to achieve just that. The arrival of a full-time features editor in August 2025 completed the small editorial team of four.

Everyone hit the ground running as they joined. With CV experiences raging across consumer magazines, local press, B2B specialists, and broadcasting for the BBC, they were united by their enthusiasm for railways, and it is this energy that shines through in the end product.

They all pursued a digital-first strategy of prioritising time-critical news and comment online, while allowing the print fortnightly to lead on issues-based features, imagery, or breaking exclusive news. In 2025, the website was relaunched with a fresh look, while the print fortnightly was redesigned with a more features-led approach. Email newsletters helped to drive more traffic to the site, adding to the massive growth in organic search referrals.

But formats and presentation count for nothing without compelling must-read stories that matter to the magazine’s audiences. The team sought out exclusives in stories and access, stronger imagery, and more variety of features to its mix from serious set-pieces to interviews to more light-hearted top 10s.

Appearances on national broadcasters for the whole team – not just the editor – helped to bring back the brand’s profile.

RAIL hit a year-on-year growth in web traffic of more than 200%, thanks to exclusives ranging from the new £100bn cost of HS2 to the revealing of a rolling stock strategy by the UK’s Rail Minister. Registrations grew from 3600+ in 2024 to 9700+ in 2025 and continue to rise. These registrations prompted 114,000+ gateway logins for articles in 2025, in comparison to a mere 7900+ in 2024.

RAIL’s online stories also drove newsletter engagement, with registrations soaring in 2026 so that every month or so the team seemed to not only break the target but also set a new all-time record. Email open rates rose nearly 40%, from 21% to 29%.

Beyond the digital, RAIL co-produced a sellout newsstand bookazine celebrating 200 years of rail, and the team also pitched in to build live events, obtaining more top names to speak at RAIL Live and reaching new record visitors and exhibitor revenues in 2025.

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