HS2 and RAIL Magazine

[Oswyntail]

More significant than the Grouping, nationalisation, the Modernisation Plan, Beeching, privatisation?

I think not.

Of course it is. All those that you list were rearguard actions, bowing to the "inevitable" of high costs, competition, political pro-road bias. HS2 is an attempt actually to fight back, to retake rail's obvious place in the transport infrastructure of the UK as the prime mover of bulk, over distance, or at speed.

 

[Manchester77]

HS2 is the most significant rail event of the last century, !

Do you mean this century?!

And unfortunately the coverage is usually rather poor focusing on negatives rather than positives which makes it a bit tedious.

 

[6Gman]

Of course it is. All those that you list were rearguard actions, bowing to the "inevitable" of high costs, competition, political pro-road bias. HS2 is an attempt actually to fight back, to retake rail's obvious place in the transport infrastructure of the UK as the prime mover of bulk, over distance, or at speed.

Er, the Modernisation Plan was pro-road?

An interesting take on history!

 

[Goatboy]

My view too. It's more business mag now.

RAIL has always been a business mag.

 

[RichmondCommu]

RAIL has always been a business mag.

Posters are referring to Rail Enthusiast which back in the 1980's very much catered for the enthusiast. I haven't bought it since I stopped spotting in the mid 1980's. It was always a cracking read and at times very funny.

 

[yorksrob]

I'm not a particular fan of Mr Harris, but he did a pretty good editorial on the subject and a good job on demolishing BCR's. Since these are routinely used as an excuse to destroy pretty much any potential railway scheme, I'd like to see the traditional BCR dead and buried for more than just HS2.

 

[Greenback]

In fairness to Rail, going for an "industry news" angle*may secure it a niche.

With the Internet, I can find thousands of railway pictures (and only search for the trains/ units that interest me, not have to wade through pages of pictures of other stuff), I can find paths, I can find "unusual workings"...

...so why pay a few quid for a magazine that provides me with that (especially since I wouldn't have to wait a month to find things out)...

...but the "Industry" stuff may be something that people will pay for, something that you can't freely get online.

The market for "here's a picture of a class 66, here's the latest update on which EMUs have been repainted into the latest colour scheme and here's some information about what deputised for a failed 153 a couple of weeks ago" is probably going to shrink further and further as people expect most things to be available for free online.

I can't disagree with that analysis. Everything has to adapt, magazines included. However, I am unconvinced that the changes that have been made are beneficial. There are still pages of news in the magazine that will be out of date for the majority of readers.

If there were more features along the lines of 'A Day in the Life Of', articles on what happens behind the scenes in signalling or control centres then I would continue to buy the magazine.

In the last few issues I did buy there were seemingly endless pages of HS2 argument, news pages filled with stuff I already knew, and basically nothing of interest to me personally!

Of course, I may be confusing what I like with what the majority of readers like and they two may be completely different!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I think the point is, and was made already, that the HS2 articles are rather repetitive.

For or against, once I've heard the argument I don't need it hear it again and again.

I have done, professionally, similar things to the analysis being used to support HS2 and the demolition job being attempted by the antis. Give me the raw data and I can come up with any answer you want by making very minor adjustments to key variables - especially over very long time periods. The numbers just dance to the tune. Quoting £xbillion in benefits, you might as well double it or halve it for what it's worth.

Regarding the HS2 articles, there is so much data / impact / benefits out there, there is scope for a series of detailed articles on each 'segment' of the route maps, but that of course requires someone to do the job rather than repackage the same story.

In general terms, I look to any magazine (or newspaper) to seek out the stories and filter them for me. Yes, I can get it all from the internet, sooner, but I want someone else to filter out the carp on my behalf. I want journalism to a professional standard looking beyond the press release with an enquiring mind i.e. sceptical of PR bullmuck.

If I search the internet, this forum included, I often get 'Fred from Stoke sent in this fuzzy picture taken on his mobile and said what he thought might have happened based on what he missed himself but Tom said in the shop later'.

Then again, I'm old fashioned and still read proper newspapers a couple of days after they are printed. Instant news I get from the internerd, considered analysis I get later in print.

 

[The Decapod]

Is it really justifiable to devote about 30 percent of a magazines pages to one issue that hasnt even started to be built yet?

If they want to, yes! It's their magazine, they can put what they like in it.

 

[60163]

Does nobody else get Traction?! Nice retrospective articles, and lots of old diesel&electric pics. Simples!

 

[ainsworth74]

Though if you're interested in current affairs that might not be useful...

 

[Searle]

The thing that annoyed me most was that in this article, 75% of the Letter's section was about people writing in about HS2. At the end of any anti-HS2 letter (which would make some good points), the editor (I assume Nigel Harris), would just write it off and make his points again. Never once did he concede that he could be even close to wrong. Came off as a bit of a spoilt brat who demands that he is right in everything.

 

[al green]

The thing that annoyed me most was that in this article, 75% of the Letter's section was about people writing in about HS2. At the end of any anti-HS2 letter (which would make some good points), the editor (I assume Nigel Harris), would just write it off and make his points again. Never once did he concede that he could be even close to wrong. Came off as a bit of a spoilt brat who demands that he is right in everything.

That's typical Nigel Harris. Some years back he wrote an editorial defending privatisation. I wrote a letter pointing out several errors in his argument. He didn't publish it. he doesn't like to be shown to be wrong.

 

[dk1]

The Tweets are relentless.

 

[ffm]

I'm not a particular fan of Mr Harris, but he did a pretty good editorial on the subject and a good job on demolishing BCR's. Since these are routinely used as an excuse to destroy pretty much any potential railway scheme, I'd like to see the traditional BCR dead and buried for more than just HS2.

Yes he did, but if you look through RAIL there are often many examples of BCRs being quoted in support of schemes!
RAIL is full of awful journalism and all the grammar and measurement confusion, as mentioned above. The signalling articles have to be the worst, usually very dry, always disjointed and never with a map to describe what the hell the rambling man is on about. Most of the other articles are equally poor, with the old locomotive stories being by far the best recently, though far too truncated. Plenty of lead in on design and ordering issues, a bit about their early lives, then a rush at the finish. These deserve far more depth, or serialisation.
Industry insider is pointless and never has any 'inside information', why make it out to be a secret writer?
Nigel's editorials are always well written, but normally boring.
Fare Dealer is all about walk on fares, often for some obscure routing he has taken. How many people, nationally, are interested in a walk on, best price, senior railcard, fare for Portsmouth to Sheringham, or such? He dismisses advance fares, yet they are the most important to many. He also uses his column for personal political, or ideological (may I say bigoted) views. He has variously attacked gays, immigrants, unions and gets away with it - even when he says he has had a large mailbag of complaints (the union issue) he is given space to say, again, why he is right and everyone else is wrong! None of the complaints, from the large personal mailbag, were published. One I wrote (to the magazine not the homophobic comment writer himself) received a reply, but wasn't published though, from NH, that he is a columnist and so can say what he likes, despite the section supposedly being about deals on fares. I would like to think that the RMT, TSSA and ASLEF would come out against that man, in particular, and support a cross-union ban on the magazine, until it takes a more responsible attitude to its content. I am going to start campaigning for this, from within my own union role, using our contacts with the others mentioned. As unions we abhor racist, homophobic, or other discriminatory language and actions. NH, apparently, allows his columnists to air their views without editorial intervention. Isn't editorial a word meaning oversight and intervention in journalist's submissions?
As to continuing readership, well I am going to join the 'flick through on the shelf' brigade, buying only if there is something worth reading. I expect few purchases.
One more point, in this HS2 diatribe issue, Stop & Examine contained a nice piece about EC, but then with a slight on their grammar. Yet that same person hadn't spotted other mistakes in the web page - strike one. The writer had also made an equally appalling mistake themself: in a separate part they noted how 3 anti-HS2 protestors had been joined by a 4th. He reported this as a 25% increase in their number! I do hope that RAIL uses better maths and stats in their HS2 supportive material.

I support the need for HS2. I am growing doubts about the route choices and lack of intermediate stations. I do not understand why it stops short of the true North. There is insufficient information on the other transport infrastructure spending, which we are constantly told will be far more than high speed's. But support I still do, though reading RAIL is beginning to drive me away, constantly hammering on about it is in grave danger of making it a real turn off. If they wish to pursue support then short, sharp, informative journalism is required. Together with some positive challenge- such as station locations and route selection. The magazine might become more interesting and HS2 to boot.

 

[daccer]

I use to subscribe to the magazine and even had it delivered abroad when i moved to South Africa. I found it full of typos, basic grammatical and even very simple typsetting errors (such as captions for a picture being 'above left' when the picture was actually on the right). It did leave me wondering if anyone actually proof read the copy before going to print.

I think the fortnightly publication might be an issue for quality and content. I am sure being published so frequently this is a financial consideration and nothing else but with the advent of real time news and forums on the internet a magazine is always going to be behind with breaking news etc and so the features must be of a high enough quality to be a motivation for purchase. And when you are publishing every second week are there enough topics to provide several quality features?

Lastly with regards to HS2 it has become a very polarised subject and I for one am not so confident it will ever get built and if it does then it will have been watered down so much as to have lost much of its original purpose. Have there been any articles written about alternatives to building HS2? The main justification for building it does seem to be for extra capacity rather than just speed. As the price tag spirals up to 30 or 40 billion I was wondering if there had been any work on alternatives to building it which might provide better value.

 

[Searle]

He has variously attacked gays, immigrants, unions and gets away with it - even when he says he has had a large mailbag of complaints (the union issue) he is given space to say, again, why he is right and everyone else is wrong!

...

The writer had also made an equally appalling mistake themself: in a separate part they noted how 3 anti-HS2 protestors had been joined by a 4th. He reported this as a 25% increase in their number!

1) I'm interested if you can tell me where he's made comments like this? I'm confused as to how he could get this into a page about fares...

2) I did notice this as well and it made me laugh!

 

[HowardGWR]

@Fireftrm
"The writer had also made an equally appalling mistake themself"

Er, and you are criticising his grammar?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

There are quite a few errors in other magazines as well; half a dozen on one page alone of a leading European coverage magazine this month...

 

[yorksrob]

Yes he did, but if you look through RAIL there are often many examples of BCRs being quoted in support of schemes!
RAIL is full of awful journalism and all the grammar and measurement confusion, as mentioned above. The signalling articles have to be the worst, usually very dry, always disjointed and never with a map to describe what the hell the rambling man is on about. Most of the other articles are equally poor, with the old locomotive stories being by far the best recently, though far too truncated. Plenty of lead in on design and ordering issues, a bit about their early lives, then a rush at the finish. These deserve far more depth, or serialisation.
Industry insider is pointless and never has any 'inside information', why make it out to be a secret writer?
Nigel's editorials are always well written, but normally boring.
Fare Dealer is all about walk on fares, often for some obscure routing he has taken. How many people, nationally, are interested in a walk on, best price, senior railcard, fare for Portsmouth to Sheringham, or such? He dismisses advance fares, yet they are the most important to many. He also uses his column for personal political, or ideological (may I say bigoted) views. He has variously attacked gays, immigrants, unions and gets away with it - even when he says he has had a large mailbag of complaints (the union issue) he is given space to say, again, why he is right and everyone else is wrong! None of the complaints, from the large personal mailbag, were published. One I wrote (to the magazine not the homophobic comment writer himself) received a reply, but wasn't published though, from NH, that he is a columnist and so can say what he likes, despite the section supposedly being about deals on fares. I would like to think that the RMT, TSSA and ASLEF would come out against that man, in particular, and support a cross-union ban on the magazine, until it takes a more responsible attitude to its content. I am going to start campaigning for this, from within my own union role, using our contacts with the others mentioned. As unions we abhor racist, homophobic, or other discriminatory language and actions. NH, apparently, allows his columnists to air their views without editorial intervention. Isn't editorial a word meaning oversight and intervention in journalist's submissions?
As to continuing readership, well I am going to join the 'flick through on the shelf' brigade, buying only if there is something worth reading. I expect few purchases.
One more point, in this HS2 diatribe issue, Stop & Examine contained a nice piece about EC, but then with a slight on their grammar. Yet that same person hadn't spotted other mistakes in the web page - strike one. The writer had also made an equally appalling mistake themself: in a separate part they noted how 3 anti-HS2 protestors had been joined by a 4th. He reported this as a 25% increase in their number! I do hope that RAIL uses better maths and stats in their HS2 supportive material.

I support the need for HS2. I am growing doubts about the route choices and lack of intermediate stations. I do not understand why it stops short of the true North. There is insufficient information on the other transport infrastructure spending, which we are constantly told will be far more than high speed's. But support I still do, though reading RAIL is beginning to drive me away, constantly hammering on about it is in grave danger of making it a real turn off. If they wish to pursue support then short, sharp, informative journalism is required. Together with some positive challenge- such as station locations and route selection. The magazine might become more interesting and HS2 to boot.

With BCR's I suspect it's very much a case of them being used when it suits the case of the proponents and not (as in the case of HS2) when it doesn't.

Can't say I've ever noticed anything particularly politically untoward in Fare Dealers column (haven't seen anything homophobic, and Unions are always going to divide opinion), but I tend to read a wide range of political opinion anyway.

Rail has become a bit too much of a privatisation cheerleader to my mind (fortunately redressed by some of it's columnists) and there are times it has a bit too much corporate stuff compared to articles about the physical railway (I'm not too concerned about the life history of the managing director of company x) but that may just be my opinion.