Railway Gazette International

About Railway Gazette International

Railway Gazette International is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Tracing its history to May 1835, when the first issue of The Railway Magazine appeared at the very dawn of the railway era, it is one of the oldest continuously published industry journals in the world. Based in Sutton, south London, and published by the Railway Gazette Group, it is read in more than 140 countries by transport professionals, railway managers, engineers, consultants and suppliers, combining technical, commercial and geographical feature articles with monthly news pages covering infrastructure, operations, rolling stock and signalling. It publishes from railwaygazette.com.

The 1835 founding

Railway Gazette International traces its history back to 1 May 1835, when the first issue of The Railway Magazine appeared, founded by Effingham Wilson. It was one of the first periodicals in the world dedicated to the spread of knowledge within a specific industry, launched just as the railway age was beginning: the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had opened only five years earlier, and the great railway boom was still ahead.

During the boom years of railways, The Railway Magazine underwent four changes of name, becoming Herapath's Railway Journal in January 1894. The Herapath name reflected the journal's growing authority on railway commercial and financial affairs, the business side of an industry that was transforming the economies of Britain and the world.

The Railway Gazette title

The Railway Gazette itself appeared in July 1905, created to cover railway commercial and financial affairs. In April 1914 it merged with The Railway Times, which incorporated Herapath's Railway Journal, consolidating the leading railway business titles into a single publication. In February 1935 it absorbed the Railway Engineer, and around the same time it also absorbed The Railway News, gathering the industry's technical and commercial journalism under one roof.

From the 1920s until the 1960s, The Railway Gazette became synonymous with railway developments throughout the world, with close links to the British Empire and other railways founded on British technology and exports. The journal's worldwide perspective reflected the global reach of British railway engineering, which had laid tracks on every continent.

Diesel Railway Traction and the specialist supplements

Reflecting the transition to advanced motive power, The Railway Gazette published the specialist title Diesel Railway Traction between 1933 and 1964, chronicling the dieselisation of the world's railways. In November 1934 another specialist supplement was launched: Overseas Railways, later known as Developing Railways, which was absorbed into Rail Business Report in 1994.

In January 1964 the main title merged with its sister publication Diesel Railway Traction and its frequency reduced from weekly to fortnightly. The consolidation reflected the changing economics of trade publishing, but the title's authority in the industry continued to grow.

Becoming Railway Gazette International

In October 1970 the journal's worldwide perspective was underlined by a change of name to Railway Gazette International, and its frequency was reduced to monthly. A second annual supplement had been launched in 1985 to serve the urban railway industry: Developing Metros, which was renamed Metro Report in 1998 and later Metro Report International, before being integrated with Railway Gazette International in 2025.

The railwaygazette.com website launched in June 1997, bringing the 162-year-old title onto the internet. The digital edition extended the magazine's reach far beyond its print circulation, delivering daily news to the industry's professionals alongside the monthly magazine's in-depth features.

Ownership: from Reed to DVV to ProMedia

Railway Gazette International was part of Reed Business Information until 1 April 2007, when it became part of the DVV Media Group, the Hamburg-based Deutsche Verkehrs Verlag transport publishing group. Under DVV the title continued as the flagship of the Railway Gazette Group, which also published Rail Business UK, the online publication covering the British railway industry, and Railway Gazette China, covering mainline and urban railway news in Mandarin.

On 31 December 2025 the Railway Gazette Group was acquired by ProMedia Group UK, the Rotterdam-based publisher. ProMedia's Europe-focused rail brand RailTech was integrated into Railway Gazette International in April 2026, and staff transitioned to the new owner with the aim of maintaining seamless service for readers and partners. The deal also brought sister titles including FlightGlobal, Air Cargo News and Personnel Today into the ProMedia portfolio.

Readership and circulation

Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport professionals and decision makers. Its audited circulation stood at 11,137 for January to December 2018, with the publisher reporting over 11,150 print copies published and delivered to subscribers each month, plus hundreds of extra copies distributed at key international rail events.

The title describes itself as the number one ABC-audited magazine for the international rail industry and the number one publication for the international rail industry, a position built on authoritative editorial from a respected expert editorial team led by editor Chris Jackson. It has served as the only official international media partner for InnoTrans, the world's leading rail trade fair.

Editorial scope

A mix of technical, commercial and geographical feature articles, plus the regular monthly news pages, covers developments in all aspects of the rail industry, including infrastructure, operations, rolling stock and signalling. The coverage spans mainline railways, metros, light rail and tram systems, reflecting the convergence of the urban and inter-city rail sectors.

The magazine's global remit means its features range across continents: high-speed rail programmes in Asia, metro expansions in the Middle East, freight corridors in Africa, signalling modernisation in Europe and rolling stock procurement in the Americas. The urban transport coverage inherited from Metro Report International added depth on tram, light rail, metro and suburban railway networks.

The Railway Gazette Group

The Railway Gazette Group publishes the monthly magazine Railway Gazette International alongside Rail Business UK and the Rail Business Awards. Metro Report International was published twice a year and focused on urban transport before its 2025 integration, and Railway Gazette China served the world's largest railway market in Mandarin in association with the Institute of Scientific & Technical Information of China.

The group structure allows the flagship international title to be complemented by focused national and sectoral products, serving both the global industry and the specific needs of the UK domestic market, where rail privatisation and subsequent reform have generated intense demand for specialist business journalism.

Railway Gazette International today

Today Railway Gazette International continues to publish monthly from Sutton, carrying the ISSN 0373-5346 and a lineage stretching back 190 years to Effingham Wilson's Railway Magazine of 1835. Under ProMedia Group ownership it remains the industry's journal of record, its mix of news, technical features and commercial analysis serving the professionals who plan, build, operate and supply the world's railways.

Few publications in any industry can claim a continuous publishing history approaching two centuries. That Railway Gazette International has chronicled the railway from the age of steam through dieselisation, electrification and high speed to the digital railway of today makes its archive one of the great documentary records of industrial history — and its current issues the essential reading of the international rail business.

Events, awards and digital services

The railwaygazette.com website, launched in June 1997, brought the title's journalism to a daily global audience, complementing the monthly magazine's in-depth features. The publisher reports hundreds of extra copies of the magazine distributed at key international rail events each month, putting the title physically into the hands of the industry's decision-makers where they gather.

The title's standing with the industry is reflected in its commercial partnerships: it served as the only official international media partner for InnoTrans 2020, the world's leading rail trade fair. Within the Railway Gazette Group, the Rail Business Awards celebrate excellence in the railway industry, while the Rail Business UK online publication serves the domestic British market — a portfolio that lets the group address the global industry, the UK industry and the sector's leading companies together.