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Most influential railway and transport journalists?

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Hi,

Is anyone aware of a list of the most important railway / transport journalists?

As a starting point, how does this sound:

Broadcasters / Radio:
Tom Edwards - BBC
Katy Austin - BBC
Tom Burridge - BBC
Paul Clifton - BBC
Spencer Stokes - BBC
Judy Hobson - BBC North West
ITN/Channel 4/Channel 5/Sky?


Newspapers:
Gwyn Topham - Guardian
Graeme Paton - The Times
Ben Clatworthy - The Times
Alastair Dalton - The Scotsman
Janina Conboye - FT
Phil Georgiadis - FT
Tanya Powley - FT
Neil Lancefield - Press Association
David Churchill - Daily Mail
Oliver Gill - The Telegraph
Simon Calder

Yorkshire Evening Press / Manchester Evening News / Daily Express?

Magazines:
Nigel Harris - Rail Magazine
Christian Wolmer - Rail Magazine
Phillip Haigh - Rail Magazine
Stefanie Foster - Rail Magazine
Paul Stephen - Rail Magazine
Paul Clifton - Rail Magazine
Tom Allett - Rail Magazine

Philip Sherratt - Modern Railways
Roger Ford - Modern Railways
James Abbott - Modern Railways
Keith Fender - Modern Railways
Dan Harvey - Modern Railways
Alan Williams - Modern Railways

Paul Bickerdyke - The Railway Magazine
Gareth Evans - The Railway Magazine
Jane Skayma - The Railway Magazine

Andy Coward - Railways Illustrated

Mark Simmons - Rail Express

Internet:
IanVisits
Diamond Geezer
Gareth Dennis
Tim Dunn
Geoff Marshall
Vicky Pipe
John Bull - London Reconnections
Man at Seat 61

Cheers,

JC
 
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That sounds like a good comprehensive start. As a Radio 4 listener, those who seem to come across most frequently are Simon Calder and Christian Wolmer.
In our household, Tim Dunn holds sway on Channel 5
 

Gloster

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You have several varietys here: general journalists who have a thorough knowledge of railways, travel journalists with a special knowledge of railways, enthusiasts who understand the disciplines needed for serious journalism, specialists who do railway journalism, etc. I would put Christian Wolmar, Simon Calder and Roger Ford as leaders in their categories.
 

43096

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You have several varietys here: general journalists who have a thorough knowledge of railways, travel journalists with a special knowledge of railways, enthusiasts who understand the disciplines needed for serious journalism, specialists who do railway journalism, etc. I would put Christian Wolmar, Simon Calder and Roger Ford as leaders in their categories.
Wolmar (aka Woemar), a leader? Seriously?
 

timmydunn

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You have several varietys here: general journalists who have a thorough knowledge of railways, travel journalists with a special knowledge of railways, enthusiasts who understand the disciplines needed for serious journalism, specialists who do railway journalism, etc. I would put Christian Wolmar, Simon Calder and Roger Ford as leaders in their categories.

It's nice to be in a list on a internet forum that's positive for a change, thank you. ;) All I would note here is that as @Gloster has noted - I (and most others in that end list) aren't actual journalists - whereas most of the others in the top lists are. We're an odd mix of historians/writers/loud-mouths whose NUJ membership cards would be cut up on the spot were we claiming to be one. I only presented TV the first time because I was worried that they were going to attempt to portray railway enthusiasts poorly - so decided I'd get myself on the inside to ensure that they didn't.

Tell yer what though, all the people I know on those lists are extremely decent folk who work tirelessly not because talking or writing about railways makes much money (it really doesn't) but because they either love the railways and their people and want to help celebrate them, or they want to ensure the right things are being done as they should be. Holding people to account is important.

What's interesting to me is that the UK's second biggest-selling rail publication is omitted here - Steam Railway - which (full declaration) I work with as a writer. It's 35-37K circulation IIRC -- that's got to put it on the "influential" lists -- but its brand hasn't really sung much these last few years, so perhaps it hasn't got the clout it might have. The new editor Chris Gilson (who restored a Class 37 that's now on the NYMR) and deputy ed Tom Bright are both incredibly knowledgeable, ambitious and very interested in what readers and non-readers have to say.
 

Bald Rick

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In terms of being influential, Roger Ford trumps the lot, and by a distance.
 

Western Sunset

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C J Allen (shows my age...)

Probably (Sir) Felix Pole got the ball rolling, by providing information about railways to a wider (non-railway) audience. Then there was, of course, Ian Allan.
 
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berneyarms

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Hi,

Is anyone aware of a list of the most important railway / transport journalists?

As a starting point, how does this sound:

Broadcasters / Radio:
Tom Edwards - BBC
Katy Austin - BBC
Tom Burridge - BBC
Paul Clifton - BBC
Spencer Stokes - BBC
Judy Hobson - BBC North West
ITN/Channel 4/Channel 5/Sky?


Newspapers:
Gwyn Topham - Guardian
Graeme Paton - The Times
Ben Clatworthy - The Times
Alastair Dalton - The Scotsman
Janina Conboye - FT
Phil Georgiadis - FT
Tanya Powley - FT
Neil Lancefield - Press Association
David Churchill - Daily Mail
Oliver Gill - The Telegraph
Simon Calder

Yorkshire Evening Press / Manchester Evening News / Daily Express?

Magazines:
Nigel Harris - Rail Magazine
Christian Wolmer - Rail Magazine
Phillip Haigh - Rail Magazine
Stefanie Foster - Rail Magazine
Paul Stephen - Rail Magazine
Paul Clifton - Rail Magazine
Tom Allett - Rail Magazine

Philip Sherratt - Modern Railways
Roger Ford - Modern Railways
James Abbott - Modern Railways
Keith Fender - Modern Railways
Dan Harvey - Modern Railways
Alan Williams - Modern Railways

Paul Bickerdyke - The Railway Magazine
Gareth Evans - The Railway Magazine
Jane Skayma - The Railway Magazine

Andy Coward - Railways Illustrated

Mark Simmons - Rail Express

Internet:
IanVisits
Diamond Geezer
Gareth Dennis
Tim Dunn
Geoff Marshall
Vicky Pipe
John Bull - London Reconnections
Man at Seat 61

Cheers,

JC
Tom Burridge left the BBC some time ago and is no longer working as a journalist or in transport.
 

SteveM70

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Nigel Harris is right at the top of the list. If the list is self-important, rather than important, that is
 

43096

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In terms of being influential, Roger Ford trumps the lot, and by a distance.
Agreed. "Informed Sources" is essential reading.

Two other names not mentioned in the OP's post are Ian Walmsley and Tony Miles (also writing in Modern Railways), who are also very knowledgeable. It all adds up to Modern Railways being the magazine of choice for understanding what is happening in the railway business. Rail is as cheap and nasty as the paper it is printed on - it is The Sun of railway magazines.
Nigel Harris is right at the top of the list. If the list is self-important, rather than important, that is
:lol: :lol:
 

Bald Rick

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Agreed. "Informed Sources" is essential reading.

Agreed. I’ve been reading it since day 1 (41 years ago!), and not ashamed to say that it has influenced my choice of career, how I do my work, and the way I write.
 

Ken H

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Agreed. I’ve been reading it since day 1 (41 years ago!), and not ashamed to say that it has influenced my choice of career, how I do my work, and the way I write.
He is better on technical stuff. When he goes off on one on the intricacies of franchising then I am afraid I turn off (and leave the article unread, often)
 

Ashley Hill

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Wolmar (aka Woemar), a leader? Seriously?
Couldn’t agree more,especially when he writes pieces like this.
Nazi salutes,really? The mans a fool!

Edit: The link didn’t work. Google nazi rail enthusiasts and you’ll find an article about the Peak Army he wrote in the Daily Mail.
 
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the sniper

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Nigel Harris is right at the top of the list. If the list is self-important, rather than important, that is

Funnily enough, I was going say something similar, but I tried to keep it positive instead! :lol:
 

Busaholic

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Ben Webster has been Environment Correspondent of the Times for some years, but before then was its Transport Correspondent. Every Christmas he used to visit family in Cornwall, and always spent time in my bookshop, where his mother was a customer. He knew my great interest in London's transport, and regaled me with stories based on his meetings with Peter Hendy and Ken Livingstone, for instance. Once or twice I felt able to contradict certain things he'd been told, and on one occasion he noted it and in turn received a correction from Livingstone, eventually, which made it onto the paper. Nowadays his writing on HS2, for instance, benefits from his railway knowledge as well as environmental concerns.
 

Magdalia

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"Private Eye" bylines are pseudonyms. That should not disqualify Dr B Ching, author of the long running "Signal Failures" column in "Private Eye".
 

Bald Rick

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"Private Eye" bylines are pseudonyms. That should not disqualify Dr B Ching, author of the long running "Signal Failures" column in "Private Eye".

Hmm - I’m not sure he (or she!) is particularly influential.
 

Bald Rick

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Well, with the latest circulation figures (January-June 2021) being 237,338 there are probably quite a lot of people who will have at least skimmed the articles.

Oh I quite agree. But then there are over a million people a day who read the Daily Mail, but that doesn’t make David Churchill influential either.
 
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